Culture of Senegal Sole Larvae without the Need for Rotifers

Two groups of Senegal sole (Solea senegalensis) larvae were cultured. One used rotifers for the first 10 days after hatching (dph) and enriched Artemia metanauplii from 6 to 30 dph and the other without rotifers, using enriched Artemia metanauplii as the sole food source. The quantity of metanauplii used was the same (group A), twice (group A2) and three times (group A3) the quantity of live prey (in dry weight) of the group fed with rotifers (group R). At the end of the experiment, the growth, in terms of total length and individual dry weight was significantly higher for the larvae on group A2 whilst rotifer fed larvae (R) showed the poorest results. Eye migration was also delayed by approximately 2 days in the group R. No significant differences were found in survival rates. The influence of diet on Senegal sole metamorphosis and its relationship with the size rather than the age of the fish are discussed.