The present study was aimed at evaluating the reproductive performance of the broodstock of purple mangrove crab (Scylla tranquebarica) fed natural food and formulated diets supplemented with astaxanthin and/or DHA. Formulated diets were supplemented with 500 mg kg-1 of astaxanthin (FA), 10 g kg-1 of DHA (FD) and both astaxanthin and DHA (FA+D). Diet without astaxanthin and DHA (FCon) and natural food (NF) consisted of forage fish (Valamugil sp.), shrimp (Penaeid sp.) and mangrove clam (Polymesoda sp.) to serve as control. Female broodstock of initial body weight 129.07±17.03 g were stocked in HDPE tank and cultured under recirculating water system. Broodstock maturation was monitored until spawning. Reproductive performance of female and condition of the larvae were also evaluated. After 50 weeks, broodstock fed FA+D diet showed better maturation percentage, spawning rate, gonadosomatic index, oocytes diameter, molting, molt death syndrome and survival rate than FCon group (P0.05) to the FA+D group but diet FD resulted in better performance than FA. Broodstock fed FA+D diet had the highest hatching rate, number of larvae produced and significantly higher zoea II survival compared to FCon and NF groups (P
Information on the sensory basis of shrimp feeding provides the means for assessment of the effectiveness of food items in terms of smell, taste, size, and colour. This chapter summarizes information about the sensory basis of the feeding behaviour of the giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) and the marine whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). Existing literature on these shrimp species and other decapod crustaceans is reviewed, and unpublished experiments using the selective sensory ablation technique to determine the involvement of vision, chemoreception, and touch sense in the feeding behavior of the juveniles of M. rosenbergii and L. vannamei are also described. To determine the role of vision in feeding, the eyes of the juveniles were painted over (deprived of vision) with white manicure and their feeding response to commercial pellets was compared with those with untreated eyes. The untreated eyed juveniles detected and approached a feed pellet right away, but the specimens blinded by the coating detected a pellet only after random accidental touch with the walking legs while roaming on the aquarium bottom. Juveniles that had learned to feed on pellets showed food search and manipulation responses to a pellet-like pebble without smell and taste. The early larvae (zoeae) of M. rosenbergii already have colour vision (that likely persists through life) and colour preference for blue and white. The adults of L. vannamei discriminated a blue-colored well among seven grey wells in a palette, also showing colour vision in this shrimp. A behavioural experiment with dyed prawn flesh showed that L. vannamei has innate color preference for yellow food over black, red, green, and blue food regardless of the background colours of the aquarium bottom. To disrupt chemoreception, the juveniles of both the species were abruptly transferred to water of drastically different salinity and the osmotic ablation destroyed the chemosensitive sensilla. The osmotically ablated juveniles approached a pellet right away but failed to ingest it; they had learned the visual cue and texture of the pellets and recognized them by vision and tactile sense. To determine the role of sensory appendages in feeding of L. vannamei juveniles, the antennal flagella, antennular flagella, and the pincers of the pereiopods were ablated. The ablated juveniles roamed the bottom, touched a pellet at random, grabbed it with the maxillipeds, and ingested it. Subsequently they learned to lower the head, actively swim forward, sweep the bottom with the maxillipeds, detect a pellet, and ingest it—thus indicating a plasticity in feeding behaviour in L. vannamei.
Combining feeding appendage morphology and behavioural observation of the motion pattern of the feeding appendages clarified many aspects underlying the feeding processes of the giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) and the marine whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in aquaria. The food intake behaviour was video recorded during eating pellet food, and pieces of fresh squid and fish. While M. rosenbergiitook pellet one by one, L. vannamei picked up many pellets at one time and held them at the mouth with the 3rd maxilliped endopods and the 1st walking legs. Both species used the right chelate walking legs rather than the left walking legs to pick up the food. The 3rd walking legs of L. vannameiwere longest and heaviest among the chelate walking legs but their major role was not for feeding but for feeding contests often in the form of aggression. While M. rosenbergii easily crunched pellets by the mandibles, L. vannamei did not crunch pellets due to the softer and not so strong mandibles and frequently spat out them, indicating that the present hard pellets are not suitable for L. vannamei. Both the species kept a piece of elastic fresh squid or fish flesh at the mouth and tore the food into small pieces with the help of repeated pulling down motion of the 3rd maxilliped endopods. However, the mandible teeth of the two spices were not sharp enough to gnaw off the fibrous muscle in one bite. The 2nd and 3rd maxilliped endopods were used for holding food at the mouth and did not contribute to mastication of food. The 2nd and 3rd maxilliped exopods exhibited the horizontal fanning motion, which caused a unidirectional water flow moving backwards in the gill chamber (visualized with milk). The maxilliped exopods were found to contribute not to feeding but ventilation. Based on the results obtained, development of softer pellets was recommended for L. vannamei.
The present study was aimed at evaluating the growth performance and feed utilization of marble goby (Oxyeleotris marmorata) juveniles fed with the acidified diets (AD). In feeding trial I, five fish meal-based diets were prepared [control (pH 6.0), AD 5.3, 4.3, 3.2 and 2.5]. Each diet was fed to triplicate batches of wild-caught O. marmorata (19 fish/ tank; total length, TL = 4.72±0.46 cm) for 8 weeks. The control, AD 5.3, and AD 4.3 treatments were terminated at week 4, due to drastic decline in total feed intake (TFI=0–0.05 g) and weight loss (weight gain, WG = -15.3 to -16.9%) in the fish. The AD 3.2 and AD 2.5 treatments were continued until week 8. Fish fed with the AD 3.2 showed significantly higher (P < 0.05) TFI (0.98 g) compared to those fed with the AD 2.5 (0.73 g) at the end of the trial. Feeding trial II was done to assess the long-term effects of AD for another 7 weeks. Thirty fish specimens were randomly selected from each of AD 3.2 and AD 2.5 treatments and stocked individually in 7 L aquaria to eliminate the territorial behaviour that was observed in the first trial. At the end of the experiment, fish fed AD 3.2 attained significantly higher (P < 0.05) WG (34%) than those fed AD 2.5 (13%). However, the growth performance and feed utilization results of the present study were very poor compared to those fed the normal fishmeal-based diet as is evident from synthesis of data from the literature review. Feeding of acidified diets was, therefore, not recommended for an extended period (> 3 weeks). Nevertheless, based on the strong preference of the fish for AD, it is worth trying to develop a weaning protocol using these diets as the starter feed and then slowly replacing them with the normal diet.
The previous behavioural studies on vision of decapod crustaceans were often based on the assumption that the visual field of the test animals was all around and there was little or no blind area above or to the rear of the animals. In the present study, we determined the visual field of the wild captured purple mud crab (Scylla tranquebarica) and the farmed whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) by eliminating the directions in which vision is anatomically blocked in all directions around the eyes. The mud crab had the visual field covering the entire visual world except for the ventral-most blind area. The whiteleg shrimp has the visual filed with a 66˚ binocular field and can see all around but is morphologically blocked by the scaphocerite extended forward between the eyes. While the transparent scaphocerites transmit 80 % of light from 400 to 700 nm wavelengths, an object seen through the scaphocerites is faded due to the light refraction, indicating that the morphological blocking is not always negligible. The trait of these visual fields should be taken into consideration in the design of visual behaviour experiments.
The effect of low pH on the tactile sense of Macrobrachium rosenbergii postlarvae was determined in the laboratory by means of two behavioural assays: shelter (netting) occupancy and jumping response to touch stimuli (taps) by a glass micropipette. The postlarvae were acclimated to pH 4, pH 5, pH 6 and pH 7.5 (control) in 45 L aquaria 5-7 d before the experiments. Shelter occupancy decreased with pH and was significantly lower at pH 4 and pH 5 than at pH 6 and in the control. The jumping response instantly followed a tap 93-98% of the time in the control, pH 6 and pH 5 treatments. However, the postlarvae showed significantly lower jumping response (65%) at pH 4, indicating an impaired tactile sense. Low pH 4-5 probably degrades the chitin of the sensory setae and inhibits the surface mechanoreceptors of the prawn postlarvae.
Intensive research on the effectiveness of chemoattractants has been widely explored to improve the feed qualities in expanding crustacean farming. Taste preferences in slipper lobster remained unknown despite their significant contribution to the lobster fisheries. Chemoattractants allow better performance in aquaculture species by increasing food attractiveness and palatability. Amino acids (AA) have been leading in previous research on crustacean feeding behavior. Given that slipper lobster possesses chemoreceptors to detect and orient towards food, this study investigated an approach to identify the AA with the most potent chemoattractant in eliciting a response from slipper lobster. Behavioral assays were performed to evaluate the responses of slipper lobster Thenus orientalis (carapace length, 52.34 ± 1.52 mm) on 15 crystalline AA and three derivatives of AA (DAA) at three concentrations between 10-1 and 10-3 M as test substances (TS). Meretrix sp. extract was used as a positive control and clean filtered seawater as a negative control. The behavioral responses of 14 T. orientalis were evaluated based on their antennular flicking rate, third maxillipeds activity, and substrate probing by the pereiopods. T. orientalis responded to the solutions of single AA down to a concentration of 10-3 M, excluding histidine and serine. The behavioral activity displayed by T. orientalis increased with the TS concentrations. L-glutamic acid monosodium salt monohydrate, betaine, and glycine solutions elicited the most behavioral responses, whereas histidine exhibited the lowest behavioral responses. Conclusively, L-glutamic acid monosodium salt monohydrate, betaine, and glycine can be potential chemoattractants for T. orientalis.
Swimming crabs have a characteristic fifth pair of legs that are flattened into paddles for swimming purposes. The dactyl of these legs bears a thick seta along its edge. The chemoreceptive and feeding properties of the seta are supported with scientific evidence; however, there is no available data on the sensitivity of the setae in portunid crabs. The underlying mechanisms of the chemo- and mechano-sensitivity of appendages and their involvement in feeding activities of the mud crab (Scylla paramamosain) were investigated using electrocardiography and behavioural assay, which focused on the responses of the mud crab to chemical and touch stimulus. Electrocardiography revealed the sensory properties of the appendages. The dactyls of swimming legs and the antennules were chemosensitive, but not mechanosensitive and vice versa for the antennae. However, the mouthparts, claws, and walking legs were chemo- and mechanosensitive. Only the chemosensitive appendages, including the swimming legs, were directly involved in feeding. The flattened dactyls of the swimming legs were more efficient than the pointed dactyls of the walking legs in detecting the food organism crawling on the substrate. The structural features enhanced the capacity of the crab in coming into contact with scattered food items. This study revealed that the swimming legs are important appendages for feeding in the mud crab.