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Effects of starvation on survival, biomass, and lipid composition of newly hatched larvae of the blue swimmer crab, Portunus pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758)

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Abstract

Lipids are crucial nutrients for survival and development of crustacean larvae. This study investigated the effects of starvation on survival, body weight, and lipid composition of newly hatched larvae of Portunus pelagicus. The results showed that during starvation, average survival time of newly hatched zoea I larvae was 3.87 days. A significant decreasing trend was detected for individual dry weight (DW) during starvation and was described as DW = 0.2x 2 − 1.462x + 15.023, R 2 = 0.9985, where x is the starvation duration in days. DW and total lipids decreased by 17.42 and 38.46 % after 3 days of starvation, respectively. For newly hatched larvae, total lipids were dominated by phospholipids (PL) (75.55–93.57 %) and 50.39 % of PL were utilized during the 3-day starvation period. This indicates that membrane structural lipids of newly hatched P. pelagicus larvae were oxidized as an energy source during continuous starvation. There were concurrent increases in free fatty acids and cholesterol that probably resulted from the decomposition of sterol esters to free fatty acids and cholesterol. Newly hatched P. pelagicus larvae contained substantially higher levels of 20:5n3 (18.90 %) and 22:6n3 (18.24 %) than other Portunid crabs. During starvation, the highest fatty acid reduction rates were found for 20:4n6, 20:5n3, and 22:6n3 (P < 0.05), and the preferential depletion of these fatty acids may suggest that the HUFA requirements of early P. pelagicus larvae are lower than those of the other Portunids.

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Abbreviations

WW:

Wet weight

DW:

Dry weight

PL:

Phospholipids

TG:

Triacylglycerol

FFA:

Free fatty acids

CHO:

Cholesterol

FAME:

Fatty acid methyl esters

SFA:

Saturated fatty acid

MUFA:

Monounsaturated fatty acids

PUFA:

Polyunsaturated fatty acids

HUFA:

Highly unsaturated fatty acids

PNR:

Point of no return

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the AIMS@JCU Tropical Aquaculture Program and an AIMS@JCU PhD scholarship to Xugan Wu. The chemical analysis costs were partially supported by IRA and GRS funds from James Cook University, and Shanghai Universities Top Disciplines Project of Fisheries from Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (No. 2012-62-0908 and 2015-0908).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AIMS@JCU, Australian Institute of Marine Science, College of Marine & Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Xugan Wu & Chaoshu Zeng

  2. Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, College of Marine & Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Chaoshu Zeng & Paul C. Southgate

  3. Key Laboratory of Exploration and Utilization of Aquatic Genetic Resources, Shanghai Ocean University, No 999 Huchenghuan Road, Lingang New District, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Xugan Wu

  4. Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research and FoSHEE, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD, 4558, Australia

    Paul C. Southgate

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  1. Xugan Wu
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  2. Chaoshu Zeng
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Correspondence to Chaoshu Zeng.

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Wu, X., Zeng, C. & Southgate, P.C. Effects of starvation on survival, biomass, and lipid composition of newly hatched larvae of the blue swimmer crab, Portunus pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758). Aquacult Int 25, 447–461 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10499-016-0042-9

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