The Effects of Live and Artificial Diets on Feeding Performance of Winter Flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, in the Hatchery

Abstract

Winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, are capable of releasing hundreds of thousands of eggs annually, but because of the vulnerability of the small, early life stages, there is high natural mortality, and few survive to maturity. Captively spawning, rearing, and releasing animals at a size or age beyond this period of high mortality may enhance stocks. The objectives of this research were to determine how different diets (both live and formulated) influenced hatchery survival and growth of juvenile winter flounder. Live feeds included post-nauplii of brine shrimp, Artemia salina; white worms, Enchytraeus albidus; and common burrower amphipods, Leptocheirus plumulosus. Fish reared on live feeds exhibited significantly higher survival (P < 0.0001) and growth (P < 0.01) than those reared on formulated feed, with fish fed white worms exhibiting the highest growth rates. This study provides hatchery feeding strategies that may ease the transition of flatfish released into the wild for stock enhancement.

Key words

 Live feed, Artificial Diets, Winter Flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus

Authors

 Michelle L. Walsh1, Elizabeth A. Fairchild, Nathan Rennels and W. Huntting Howell

Publication

Published February, 2015. Journal of the World Aquaculture Society. doi: 10.1111/jwas.12171

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