Polychaetes in ornamental fish nutrition

Aquaculture of ornamental fish is today a global industry worth several billion dollars. Nutritionally, ornamental fish are different from edible fish, so body color is more important in ornamental fish than meat production, and in terms of price, ornamental fish and edible fish are different. Aquaculturists strive to use food efficiently and at a reasonable price. Recently, efforts have been made to develop different diets for aquarium fish, and the use of invertebrates such as insects, Artemia, polychaetes, and worms has been studied. Polychaetes are among the live foods with high nutritional value that are approved for use in ornamental fish diets. Polychaetes (protein, fat, and carbohydrates) possess a biochemical composition that is suitable for feeding ornamental fish, resulting in better growth performance, survival, and color quality compared to concentrated diets. Ornamental fish farmers increasingly use polychaetes as sources of long-chain unsaturated fatty acids (such as docosahexaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, linoleic acid, and arachidonic acid) in order to improve growth performance, sexual maturity, and color quality. The importance of polychaetes as live food for ornamental fish is discussed in this promotional study.