Dietary value of microalga Rhodomonas sp. as a live food for sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus larvae

Abstract

In order to examine the dietary value of a microalga Rhodomonas sp. as a live food for marine animals in aquaculture, small-scale rearing experiments of sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus larvae were conducted in alaboratory. The survival rate of larvae fed Rhodomonas sp. was 89.3% on the 13th day of the experiments. Both the growth and metamorphosis to Doliolaria larval stage were more steady than those fed conventional live food. Proximate and fatty acid compositions of Rhodomonas sp. showed that it was rich in EPA, DHA and ARA, which are essential for the survival and healthy growth of marine animals. These factors might have positively affectedthe survival rate and growth rate of sea cucumber larvae fed Rhodomonas sp. According to the results obtained in the experiments, Rhodomonas sp. could be used as a novel live food for marine animals in aquaculture.