Adaptation of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) fry to commercial dry diet and the effect of initial larval feeding with different live foods on growth, hematological and blood biochemical parameters

The aim of this study was to find the effect of initial feeding with different live feeds in the larval stage on growth, hematological and blood biochemical indices of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) after the stage of adaptation to dry food. In order to carry out this study, 900 Persian sturgeon with an average weight of 263.8 ± 2.3 mg (mean ± standard error) were selected from each larval stage treatment, and 300 larvae were selected in each tank with 4 treatments and 3 replications. During 21 days, they were acclimated to dry food using chironomid and formulated diet. These Persian sturgeon fries were reared in the larval stage in 4 treatments includes: 1 (Artemia + Daphnia), 2 (Artemia), 3 (Artemia + chironomid) and 4 (chironomid). Final weight, growth rate, feed efficiency and daily growth rate in treatment 4 were significantly higher compared with the other treatments. Specific growth rate and weight gain in treatment 4 were higher than that of all treatments and food conversion ratio in this treatment was lower than the other treatments (P < 0.05). After adaptation of fries to commercial dry food, total protein and albumin were the highest in treatment 3 (Artemia and chironomid) and the lowest in treatment 1 (Artemia and Daphnia) (P>0.05). In terms of hematological indices, the number of white blood cells and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration were the highest in treatment 1 (Artemia and Daphnia) and lowest in treatment 2 (Artemia) (P<0.05). According to the results of the present study, feeding with chironomid larvae in the larval stage has a great effect on the growth and blood biochemical indices of Persian sturgeon fry after getting used to dry food, which chironomid larvae was used to feed Persian sturgeon larvae. The use of chironomid larvae is recommended for the initial feeding of Persian sturgeon fry and the transition stage from live feed to commercial dry food.