Artemia sp. Proportions and Effects on Survival and Growth of Pintado,Pseudoplatystoma corruscans Larvae

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the survival and growth of larvae (L) of pintado, Pseudoplatystoma corruscans, fed different Artemia sp. proportions: 50, 200, 350, 500, 650, 800, and 950 Artemia nauplii per larva per day, in a complete randomized design. Water salinity was 1.7%, and larviculture lasted for a period of 15 days, which was divided into three individual 5-day trials. Larvae were stocked at a density of 15 per liter and kept in the dark. The concentrations of un-ionized ammonia-N and nitrite-N were directly proportional to the increase in prey density (P < 0.05). Regression analysis showed increased survival and growth rates up to 200, 350, and 500 nauplii/L/day, for the first, second, and third trials, respectively. These results indicate that larval food intake is related to ontogenetic development stage.     

First isolation and characterization of Lactococcus garvieae from Brazilian Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.), and pintado, Pseudoplathystoma corruscans (Spix & Agassiz)

Lactococcus garvieae infection in cultured Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.), and pintado, Pseudoplathystoma corruscans (Spix & Agassiz), from Brazil is reported. The commercial bacterial identification system, Biolog Microlog^®, confirmed the identity of L. garvieae . Infectivity trials conducted in Nile tilapia using Brazilian Nile tilapia L. garvieae isolates resulted in a median lethal dose-50 of 1.4 × 10⁵ colony-forming units (CFU)/fish. This is the first evidence of the presence of this pathogen from Brazilian fish. In addition, this is the first report of L. garvieae infection in either Nile tilapia or pintado. Collectively, this evidence expands the geographical range of fish hosts, number of fish hosts harbouring L. garvieae and carbon source utilization by L. garvieae fish isolates. Furthermore, the Biolog system may be an alternative technique to polymerase chain reaction for the identification of L. garvieae and discrimination between closely related bacterial species.