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Use of the freshwater rotifer Brachionus angularis as the first food for larvae of the Siamese fighting fish Betta splendens

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Abstract

Larvae of the Siamese fighting fish Betta splendens were reared on the mass-cultured small freshwater rotifer Brachionus angularis Laos strain (UTAC-Lao), Paramecia sp., and Artemia as live food sources. Larvae fed live food were found to have a significantly high survival rate (97.5–100%) 18 days after hatch (DAH) in comparison to the control unfed larvae, which died by 12 DAH. Rotifer-fed larvae were found to grow faster than paramecia-fed larvae. The fastest growth rate was observed in larvae fed a combination of rotifer and Artemia, with growth in these larvae increasing by 282% by 18 DAH [total length (TL) 11.3 ± 1.2 mm] relative to body measurements taken 3 DAH. The next fastest growth rate was observed in rotifer-fed larvae, with a 158% increase in growth observed by 18 DAH (TL 7.6 ± 0.5 mm). The paramecia-fed larvae were found to grow by only 54.3% (TL 4.6 ± 0.1 mm) during the same period.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Naoki Mizuno (Fisheries Laboratory, The University of Tokyo) for providing helpful advice on fish breeding and larval rearing which was vital for our study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan

    Yuka Ogata & Hisashi Kurokura

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  1. Yuka Ogata
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  2. Hisashi Kurokura
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Correspondence to Yuka Ogata.

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Ogata, Y., Kurokura, H. Use of the freshwater rotifer Brachionus angularis as the first food for larvae of the Siamese fighting fish Betta splendens . Fish Sci 78, 109–112 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-011-0420-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-011-0420-1

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