Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development

Abstract

The Consumption of DHA during Embryogenesis as an Indicative of the Need to Supply DHA during Early Larval Development: A Review

Joana Figueiredo, Junda Lin, Justin Anto and Luís Narciso

The establishment of an adequate larval diet for crustacean and fish often involves a series of time-consuming and expensive trial and errors. Despite being nutritionally poor, rotifers and Artemia are the most commonly used preys in larviculture. Whether (and to what extent) the prey needs to be enriched with essential fatty acids differs from species to species. We hypothesized that the DHA content of a newly spawned eggs and its consumption through embryogenesis can be a good indicator of the need to enrich the prey with DHA. In order to assess this hypothesis,we performed a search in the scientific literature and compared DHA consumption through embryogenesis with larval culture success with unenriched and DHA-enriched Artemia nauplii, respectively a prey poor and rich in DHA of fish and crustacean. Data available from previously published studies suggests that, higher the consumption of DHA during embryonic development, greater the requirement of a diet rich in DHA during early larval development; and when, although present, DHA is not consumed during embryogenesis, larvae seem to be able to successfully develop with diet poor in DHA (i.e. using solely their reserves). Further studies will be necessary to better validate this hypothesis, but if confirmed, it may allow a reduction of time and costs associated with the establishment of an adequate larval diet.