A wide range of species that are cultivated in commercial mariculture are planktonic during at least part of their life cycle; for example, the larval stages of shellfish (shrimp and molluscs) and the live feeds (rotifers, brine shrimp, copepods) used in the larviculture of marine fish and shellfish. Over the last decades various techniques have been developed to deliver nutrients to these zooplanktonic organisms either through artificial diets or by manipulating the composition of the live prey fed to the carnivorous stages. This paper reviews the methodology that has allowed aquaculturists to gain knowledge of nutritional requirements and may offer interesting opportunities for ecologists to verify the importance of key nutrients in the natural food chain of marine as well as freshwater ecosystems.
Live micro-algae can be replaced partially or completely in the diet of filter-feeders such as rotifers, Artemia , shrimp larvae and bivalves, by various types of preserved algae, micro-encapsulated diets and yeast-based diets, whereas lipid emulsions and liposomes may be utilized to supplement specific lipid- and water-soluble nutrients, respectively. Microbound and micro-encapsulated diets have been designed to supplement live feed in the culture of micro-predators such as fish and shrimp larvae.
Live prey organisms, in particular rotifers and Artemia , can be 'bio-encapsulated' with a variety of enrichment diets to manipulate their content in certain nutrients, including omega3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (FA) and the vitamins C, A and E. Nevertheless, the enrichment techniques are not applicable for all nutrients and prey organisms. Phospholipid composition is difficult to manipulate through the diet of live feed and the enrichment of the essential FA docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is hampered in most Artemia species due to the catabolism of this FA following enrichment.
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