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Essential Fatty Acid Nutrition of Hybrid Striped Bass Larvae
The objectives of this study are to (a) determine the effects of dietary HUFA supplement on production and performance of hybrid striped bass; (b) determine the function of 20:5 (n-3) and 22:6 (n-3) in the diets of hybrid striped bass with respect to growth; and (c) determine the requirements (by weight) of (n-3) fatty acids for hybrid striped bass.
The implications of this project's results to aquaculture are obvious. From a growth and survival aspect, it is apparent that the traditional practice of feeding newly hatched
Artemia nauplii to both striped bass and palmetto bass is inadequate. These results explain (to some degree) why intensive larval culture success has been minimal to date. Through HUFA enrichment of Artemia, we successfully reared up to 80% of the larvae through metamorphosis under intensive culture conditions. Because feed costs account for as much as 50% of production costs, any insight that impacts feed conversion efficiency, or fish growth and survival, has immediate economic benefit. The findings of this project are also of major benefit to Natural Resource Agencies responsible for stock enhancement efforts of natural populations of striped bass as the improved survival aspect significantly impacts the physical space required to produce adequate numbers of fish to meet stocking demands. Lastly, the results of this project impact the scientific community who use larval fish to understand metabolic and biochemical mechanisms of growth and development due to the larval fish's nature of rapid tissue differentiation and the genetic process switching that constantly occurs during this life stage (i. e., switching genes on and off). Improved rearing capabilities increase the number of animals researchers can study.
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Reginal Harrell and Tuu-jyi Chai
Horn Point Laboratory
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
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