Larval rearing of the Mekong catfish, Pangasius bocourti (Pangasiidae, Siluroidei): Substitution of Artemia nauplii with live and artificial feed

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of brine shrimp nauplii (Artemia sp.), Cladocera (Moina sp.), Tubifex worms and a trout starter diet on growth performances and survival rate of Mekong catfish larvae (Pangasius bocourti Sauvage, 1880). Larvae accepted all four types of experimental diets, owing to large mouth opening at the first feeding (0.6–1.0 mm at 45° and 90° mouth opening, respectively). Artemia nauplii and Tubifex worms resulted in the same growth performances and survival rates for a 9-d nursing time with specific growth rates of 36–37 %·d⁻¹ and survival rates of 92–93 %. Moina led to a lower growth performance (31 %·d⁻¹) but the survival rate (94 %) was not significantly different to that of larvae fed Artemia nauplii or Tubifex worms. Trout starter feed, dry pellet, proved relatively less suitable for larval rearing of P. bocourti owing to a low survival rate (68 %) and growth performance (21 %·d⁻¹). The study confirmed the feasibility of completely replacing Artemia nauplii by Tubifex worms.