Effects of Artemia enriched with vitamin C and highly unsaturated fatty acids on growth and survival of post-larval western white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

The effects of diets containing enriched Artemia with highly unsaturated fatty acids and different amounts of vitamin C on the growth factors and survival rate of Litopenaeus vannamei larvae was studied. We used four different groups (three treatments and one control) with 3 replicate for each treatment during 15 days. All post larvae were randomly selected and fed with four diets containing normal Artemia (control treatment), Artemia enriched with cod liver oil (treatment 1), Artemia enriched with cod liver oil and 10 percent of vitamin C (treatment 2) and Artemia enriched with cod liver oil and 20 percent of vitamin C (treatment 3). Farming of shrimp larvae from PL1 to PL15 was completed in 300 liters tanks each containing around 150 liters of water. At the end of the experiment, the growth factors and survival rate of stage PL15 in treatments 1, 2 and 3 improved in comparison with control treatment. The survival rate at PL15 in treatments 2 and 3 showed a significant difference from control due to the synergistic properties of unsaturated fatty acid and vitamin C. No significant difference was found for survival rate between treatment 1 and the control treatment in PL15 stage. Also, no significant difference was seen for growth rate between treatments 2 and 3 in PL15. The highest growth factors and survival rate among different treatments in stage PL15 was observed in treatment 3 (diets containing Artemia enriched with cod liver oil and 20 percent vitamin C) and the lowest was associated with control treatment, diets containing un-enriched Artemia.