Production and use of Artemia in aquaculture

Abstract

For the successful culture operations of fin fishes and shellfishes, feeding the larval, juvenile and adult stages with appropriate, nutritionally balanced, non-polluting, economically viable and readily acceptable feed to obtain the optimum growth and survival, is considered as one of the major requirements in aquaculture practices the world over. Live feed organisms play an important role in the dietary regime of cultivable fishes and shellfishes, particularly in the larval stages, as one or the other live feed organisms form the principal food of the larvae in nature. Culture of live feed organisms is identified as an important field as it is one of the major inputs in the hatchery seed production. Realising this, intensive investigations in the selection and large scale culture of several live feed organisms, are being carried out in aquaculture research and development programmes. Existing literature reveals that only a few species have been utilized as good live feed organisms and among them, the brine shrimp Artemia comes in for prime consideration