effects of enrichment of artemia with sea weed extract of Padina sp. on survival and growth rates of western white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) post larvae

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of enrichment of Artemia with sea weed extract (Padina sp.) on the survival and growth rates of post larvae of western white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). This investigation was conducted in the Shrimp Research Center, Bushehr, Iran. The experimental design was done in three dietary treatments with three replications which were conducted in 9 water tanks with 30 liter volume. Nauplius of artemia were enriched with 0.2 and 0.4 g per liter of emulsified Padina sp. extract, and larvae were fed with this preparation 4 times a day with an interval of 6 hours for a period of one month. Finally the findings were analyzed statistically. The results showed that the growth and specific growth rate of larvae fed in enriched artemia in 0.4g/l emulsified extract were significantly increased compared to 0.2g/l and the control. Also there was a significant difference between the specific growth rates of 0.2g compared with the control. The percentage of survival in 0.4 g sample was maximum. The results of this study showed that feeding western white shrimp larvae with artemia enriched with extract of Padina sp. will significantly increase the growth and survival rate.