Effect of concentration of the microalga Dunaliella tertiolecta on survival and growth of fairy shrimp, Phallocryptus spinosa Milne Edwards, 1840 (Crustacea: Anostraca)

We investigated the effects of concentration of the microalga Dunaliella tertiolecta on the growth and survival of fairy shrimp, Phallocryptus spinosa. Newly hatched nauplii were stocked into containers, maintained at different concentrations of D.tertiolecta (at 18, 36, 54, 72 and 90x10(6) cellsmL(-1)). All treatments were in quadruplicate and each replicate was stocked with 100 larvae in a 2-L cylindrical bowl. We studied the survival and growth of the fairy shrimp after 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15days of culture. The results indicated significant differences, in terms of growth and survival, of fairy shrimps fed at different algal densities. The highest and lowest growth and survival among the treatments were observed on Day 15, the highest in animals fed at a concentration of 90x10(6) cellsmL(-1) and the lowest in animals fed at a concentration of 18x10(6) cellsmL(-1). We conclude that the growth and survival of the P. spinosa increased with increasing density of algae, to a threshold level. Within certain concentration limits, the addition of D.tertiolecta substantially improved the performance of larval culture of P. spinosa, suggesting that this fairy shrimp has potential in terms of aquaculture development.