CTSA# 133, Enrichment of Artemia For Use in Freshwater Ornamental Fish Production

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The dietary requirements of all aquaculture species can be categorized by five different classes of compounds: 1) proteins, 2) lipids, 3) carbohydrates, 4) vitamins, and 5) minerals. It is not the intent of the authors to provide an exhaustive review of each nutrient mentioned but rather to focus on the importance of the lipids, in particular the fatty acids, in aquaculture. A comprehensive introductory text for review of all of the components of an artificial diet was written by Tacon (1990). The purpose of this manual is to describe what fatty acids are, their nutritional importance, and ways they can be used to enrich live feeds. Two live feeds which are ubiquitous in the culture of aquatic organisms, the rotifer Brachionus sp. and the nauplii of the brine shrimp Artemia, are the main vehicles by which the nutritional components are delivered to the fish larvae. This manual focuses on the use of and enrichment of Artemia. The rotifer is a topic to be covered under a separate manual and the authors refer the reader to the publications by Snell and Hoff (1988), Fulks and Main (1991) and Tamaru et al. (1993a) for more information regarding the use of rotifers in hatchery operations.

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