Effects of microalgal diets on larval growth and survival of Paphia malabarica chemnitz

Abstract

The effects of food availability on the larval growth and survival of Paphia malabarica were studied in two experiments by feeding the larvae with six algal diets. Newly hatched larvae of P. malabarica were fed with six different marine microalgae species, singly and in a combination of two species. The best growth was with Isochrysis galbana and Nannochloropsis salina as a single species of diet. The nutritional value of single-species diets was in the order of N. salina, I. galbana, Dicrateria inornata, Chaetoceros calcitrans, Tetraselmis gracilis and Dunaliella salina. Of the mixtures tested, 50%I. galbana/50%N. salina supported growth and metamorphosis equivalent to those of the I. galbana control.