ARTICLE FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE May 2023 63 INTRODUCTION The demand for adequately sized live food as a first feed is the limiting element in the production of high value marine finfishes. This is related to the small gape size of several commercially important fish species. The scarcity of acceptable live feeds has caused a bottleneck in the production of marine fish species, and new developments are needed to allow for the expansion of this culture business. Ingestion, digestion, and assimilation of live prey are essential for the early life stages of marine animals. As a result, the utilisation of live feeds is crucial for the proper upbringing of juveniles of nearly all cultured species. Fish larvae find prey through movement, with neuromasts on their bodies detecting water motion and plankton frequencies and eyes recognising proper movement patterns. As a result, inert meals rarely stimulate fish larvae. EXIGENCIES Live feeds are the vital link between the cessation of endogenous yolk supply and post-metamorphosis, when gastric glands have grown and artificial diet digestion is possible. Formulated diets, on the other hand, can help juvenile fish grow quickly while also offering adequate nutritional contents at a lesser cost. Live food must be of appropriate size for the species and age to avoid poor larval growth. Rotifers are usually fed first, then Artemia nauplii, and lastly enriched Artemia as gape size grows. Currently grown marine finfishes can consume routinely used live feeds. While brine shrimp are particularly suitable to commercial culture, feeding rotifers has been noted to be problematic due to their tiny size, nutritional heterogeneity, and rotifer culture's vulnerability to crashing. Although Artemia nauplii are extensively used as live food, it is far from the best live “There is a need to enhance the availability of a larger range of tiny sized live feeds in order to diversify the number of species farmed within the marine fish trade. Copepod nauplii are a great choice of live feed before moving on to rotifers. However, their culture's existing constraints must be overcome.” WHY COPEPODS COULDN’T COPE WITH MARICULTURE? R. Dinesh Assistant Professor Mandapam Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture, TNJFU Cyclopoid copepod with eggs (Image: R.Dinesh)
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