An indoor solution for mass production of the marine rotifer Brachionus plicatilis Müller fed on the marine microalga Tetraselmis suecica butcher

Mass production of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis Müller is carried out in a set of 50-liter polyethylene bags in which first the microalga Tetraselmis suecica Butcher is cultured and then the rotifer is grown till most of the algae are grazed.This novel procedure based on a monoxenic production technique, has been conceived with a number of aims in view among which the following should be mentioned: shortest time elapsing between the start and the end of the culture (1 week); minimal care of the cultures; light energy saving for indoor invertebrate mass production systems; unified culture vessel for growing algae and rotifers; accuracy and timing of planned rotifer production. Each bag maintained in the best reported conditions gives over 400 rotifers per ml as final production. Rotifer mass production in plastic bags is better achieved when operated in conjunction with a system of continuous monoxenic cultures of microalgae and of rotifers which provide the inocula.