IMPROVEMENT OF NUTRITIONAL-VALUE OF ARTEMIA FOR HYBRID STRIPED BASS WHITE BASS (MORONE-SAXATILIS X MORONE-CHRYSOPS) LARVAE BY N-3 HUFA ENRICHMENT OF NAUPLII WITH MENHADEN OIL

Three groups of Artemia, or brine shrimp, nauplii were tested for their effect on growth and survival of hybrid striped bass larvae during a 23-day feeding period (day 5 through day 28 post-hatch). The groups of brine shrimp were a Chinese strain (CH) that had been shown to be sufficient in n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) and produced good growth in striped bass larvae, a strain from the Great Salt Lake, UT (GSL) that had been shown to be insufficient in n-3 HUFAs and produced poor growth in striped bass larvae, and the GSL strain enriched with menhaden oil (GSLE) to increase the content of n-3 HUFAs (20:5 and 22:6). The enrichment process involved holding the nauplii for 3 to 9 h in a suspension of menhaden oil in water using gum xanthum as an emulsifier. The growth and survival of larvae fed the GSLE nauplii were equal to those of larvae fed the CH nauplii and significantly greater than those of larvae fed the GSL nauplii. The polar lipids in the larvae fed GSL brine shrimp contained only trace amounts of n-3 HUFAs while the larvae fed the GSLE and the CH brine shrimp contained significant amounts of n-3 HUFAs. The larvae fed GSLE nauplii had higher amounts of n-3 HUFAs in the polar lipids than the larvae fed CH nauplii. These results indicate that brine shrimp which may have desirable hatchability, size or economic traits but are deficient in essential fatty acids can be improved nutritionally by a simple enrichment process using menhaden oil.