Feeding Responses of Cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis) at Early Hatchling Stages

摘要

The cuttlefish Sepia pharaonis is an important fishery resource in tropical archipelagic environments. This species is highly sought in both local and international market trades. Therefore, intensive efforts are currently undertaken to develop practical larval rearing protocols to produce juveniles for stock enhancement and for aquaculture purposes. However, the lack of basic information regarding the larvae prey preference, basic digestive physiology and nutritional requirements are considered major bottlenecks, slowing the progress in the development of a hatchery production system for this species. To fill these gaps, the present study was conducted following a factorial design to evaluate the overall feeding response of cuttlefish at differenthatchling stages (1, 3 and 5 days after hatching) given with different prey types (Artemia larvae, mysids and tilapia fry) at varying densities (low, medium and high). Results indicate that regardless of age after hatching, S. pharaonis paralarvae had astrong feed preference for Artemia rather than mysids or fish fry. At all larval stages tested, a strong interaction of prey type and density was noted with Artemia as the preferred prey. Feeding ingestion of Artemia larvae as prey organism increased with increasing density. Lowest ingestion of prey was observed in the group given with tilapia fry at a low density. Collectively, the present findings suggest that Artemia larvae at a density of 15 Artemia/100 mL is suitable as a live prey for S. pharaonisat early hatchling stages.