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Recent advances in the high-density rotifer culture in Japan

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Abstract

The success of rapidly growing aquaculture industry depends on the steady supply of fish seeds. Appropriate food for initial larval stages is critical for mass scale fish seed production. Live food found better over artificial food for fish larvae culture. Rotifers have been found to be the best live food for feeding fish larvae in early life stage. Attempts have been made to develop viable techniques for the production of rotifer through batch, continuous, and semi-continuous culture methods. In order to feed increased number of fish larvae, rotifer need to be cultured under high-density method. Various efforts have been made for increasing culture density of rotifer. In Japan, stable high-density culture of rotifer has been developed in commercial scale at a rate of 20,000–30,000 ind. ml−1. Later on, ultra-high-density rotifer culture (160,000 ind. ml−1) was found successful, which can fulfill the increased demand for rotifer as fish larval food. Furthermore, a scope of alternative use of rotifer can be explored. The development of the high-density rotifer culture method in Japan has been reviewed. The considerations of the associated nutritional requirements, microbial aspects, and prospects of high-density culture have been discussed.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Kenji Yoshimura, who was a member of the Fukuoka Mariculture Research Group and contributed a lot for the development of high-density rotifer culture. We sincerely thank Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for providing a Fellowship to M. Amzad Hossain.

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  1. M. Amzad Hossain

    Present address: Department of Aquaculture, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, 1706, Bangladesh

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  1. Laboratory of Shallow Sea Aquaculture, Mie University, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan

    Takao Yoshimatsu & M. Amzad Hossain

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Correspondence to Takao Yoshimatsu.

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Yoshimatsu, T., Hossain, M.A. Recent advances in the high-density rotifer culture in Japan. Aquacult Int 22, 1587–1603 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10499-014-9767-5

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