Biochemical Changes in Freshwater Prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii During Larval Development

Abstract.— Quantitative changes in the protein, lipid and carbohydrate were studied in the early larval stages of developing freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii reared under fed and starved conditions to understand the relative importance of these nutrients in energy metabolism of the growing larvae. Larvae obtained from several females were stocked into three 250-L tanks at a density of 30 larvae/L. The feeding regime consisted of newly hatched Artemia nauplii. Protein was always the major organic constituent followed by lipids and then carbohydrates of both fed and starved larvae. Protein levels of both fed and starved larvae increased during development, suggesting an important role in morphogenesis. The decline of lipid during the larval growth that was more rapid for starved larvae, suggests a probable utilization of lipid as the major metabolic source of energy. Carbohydrates formed less than 5 and 2.4% of the larval dry weight of fed and starved larvae, respectively, suggesting their limited role in larval metabolism.     

Effect of Stocking Density on Growth,Survival, and Condition of the Mexican Cichlid Cichlasoma beani

The Mexican cichlid Cichlasoma beani is currently exploited regionally as food and can be commercialized in the aquarium trade. Natural populations of C. beani may already be negatively affected by anthropogenic alteration of the areas in which it is distributed. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect on growth, survival, and condition of C. beani cultured in three stocking densities: three (D3), six (D6), and nine (D9) fish per each 40 L tank. At the end of a 6‐wk trial the fish cultured in D3 were longer, heavier, and grew faster than the rest of the treatments but their survival was the lowest compared to D6 and D9. The mortalities were caused by a strong aggressive behavior in D3.     

Socio-spatial organization reveals paternity and low kinship in the Honduran white bat (Ectophylla alba) in Costa Rica

Ectophylla alba is a tent-making bat that roosts in mixed-sex clusters comprising adults and offspring. Our goal was to determine the genetic identity of individuals belonging to different roosting groups. We tested the hypothesis of kin selection as a major force structuring group composition. We used 9 microsatellites designed for E. alba to determine the genetic identity and probability of parentage of individuals. We analyzed parentage and kinship using the software ML-Relate, GenAIEx, and Cervus. The obtained relationship probabilities (0.5) revealed a clear maternal relationship between female adults and offspring with allele compatibility, and at least 5 relationships between male adults and pups. We found a low degree of relatedness within roosting groups. Between roosting groups at different sites, the mean probability of a half-sibling relationship ranged from 0.214 to 0.244 and, for full-sibling relationship, from 0.383 to 0.553. Genetically, adult individuals were poorly related within clusters, and kinship as an evolutionary force could not explain group membership.     

Seasoned Sprat Products’ Acceptance in Estonia and in Thailand

The aim of the study was to describe and evaluate competitiveness of Estonian spice-cured sprat products in Estonia and Thailand. Sample A was saltiest, Sample B had lowest overall spiciness, and Sample C had highest pepper flavor and sour taste intensity. The main drivers of consumer acceptance for the spice-cured sprat products were different: flavor and appearance in Estonia and appearance and odor in Thailand. In Estonia, one cluster of consumers liked the traditional (Sample A) and lightly spiced (Sample B) sprat products, while the other cluster liked the traditional (Sample A) and the marinated (Sample C) sprat products. In Thailand, all samples scored low, but manual clustering indicated that marinated (Sample C) sprat products are most acceptable. The current study showed that spice-cured sprat products in general can be accepted by Thai consumers, especially as part of meals, if further flavor development is carried out with the products.     

Detection and molecular characterization of infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus from major ornamental fish breeding states in Peninsular Malaysia

‘Gold standard’ OIE reference PCR assay was utilized to detect the presence of infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus (ISKNV) in freshwater ornamental fish from Malaysia. From total of 210 ornamental fish samples representing 14 species, ISKNV was detected in 36 samples representing 5 fish species. All positive cases did not show any clinical signs of ISKNV. Three restriction enzymes analyses showed that the fish were infected by identical strains of the same virus species within Megalocytivirus genus. Major capsid protein (MCP) genes of 10 ISKNV strains were sequenced and compared with 9 other reference nucleotide sequences acquired from GenBank. Sequence analysis of MCP gene showed that all strains detected in this study were closely related to the reference ISKNV with nucleotide sequence identity that was ranging from 99.8% to 100%. In addition, phylogenetic analysis of MCP gene revealed that viruses from genus Megalocytivirus can be divided into three genotypes: genotype 1 include reference ISKNV and all other strains that were detected in this study, genotype 2 include viruses closely related to red sea bream iridovirus (RSIV), and genotype 3 include viruses closely related turbot reddish body iridovirus (TRBIV).     

Amino Acid Composition of Developing Larval Freshwater Prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii

Abstract.— Amino acid profiles of freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii were determined during early larval stages (I-IX) to provide some baseline biochemical information of the growing larvae. The larvae obtained from several females were stocked into three 250-L tanks at a density of 30 larvae/L. The feeding regime consisted of newly hatched Artemia nauplii and egg custard containing 5% cod liver oil. For each developmental stage, larval samples from each experimental tank were pooled, freeze dried and after acid hydrolysis, the quantification of amino acids was done by a reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography ( N = 2). The highest represented of the total amino acids were for glutamic acid and phenylalanine (with cystine) with ranges from 13.4–16.6 and 9.7–11.5%, respectively, whereas tryptophan (1.4–1.6%). methionine (1.4–2.7%) and histidine (2.9–4.2%) were relatively lower. The levels of the following essential amino acids did not significantly change during larval development: arginine, leucine, phenylalanine (plus cystine), threonine, tryptophan and valine. Despite statistically significant changes that were observed in levels of some amino acids, amino acid composition appeared to be relatively unchanged during the larval growth. The results may suggest that the amino acid requirements of the freshwater prawn is relatively constant during larval life and can be satistied by a suitable protein source that resembles the larval amino acid profile.     

Growth and reproduction of the lion's paw scallop Nodipecten subnodosus in a suspended culture system at Guerrero Negro lagoon,Baja California Sur,Mexico

The lion's paw scallop, Nodipecten subnodosus (Sowerby) has considerable aquacultural potential due to its fast growth and large adductor muscle. Prior investigations throughout northwestern Mexico's littoral have reported highly variable growth rates; furthermore, no studies are available of the environment on growth and gametogenesis in this species under culture conditions. This investigation assesses the effect of food availability and temperature on the growth and gametogenesis of N. subnodosus in a suspended culture system at Guerrero Negro lagoon, Mexico. After 1 year of cultivation, N. subnodosus reached 69.13 mm in shell height (SH) (0.196 mm day^?1, 14 months old). Two significant growth spurts were observed: over the two first months of culture (August and September 2001, mean growth rate 0.4 mm day^?1) and in September 2002 (0.3 mm day^?1), both related to high temperatures and chlorophyll a concentrations. The onset of gametogenesis occurred in April 2002, with an increase in temperature (10‐month‐old scallops, 54.5 mm SH). The first spawning occurred in October and November (86.2 and 93 mm SH), with peak temperatures. These results, together with the analysis of previous reports, indicate that N. subnodosus has a higher preference for temperate areas; therefore, the Guerrero Negro lagoon appears to be a suitable site to culture this species.