Using Artemia urmiana nauplii enriched with HUFA oils in Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) larvae culture

We assessed the effects of Artemia urmiana nauplii as fish food enriched with different oils on growth and survival rate of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) larvae. Sturgeon ovary oil, cod liver oil, linseed oil and a commercial emulsion (ICES, Belgium Brand)  in three levels (100, 200 and 300ppm) for two periods of 12 and 24h were used for enrichment of A. urmiana nauplii fed to Persian sturgeon larvae during 20 days. Length, weight, SGR, CF, FCR and biochemical analyses including fatty acid profiles, total lipid and protein were measured for sturgeon larvae. Maximum length (43.9±2.3mm), DW (34.9±8.7mg), and minimum FCR (1.15±0.21) for sturgeon treatment  12h-200ppm, maximum  SGR (13.4±0.6) for sturgeon treatment 12h-300ppm, CF (0.47±0.03)  for linseed treatment 12h-300pprn and ICES 12h-300ppm (0.47±0.05), survival (94.1±0.2%) for ICES 24h-200pprn, protein content (70.05%) for ICES 12h-200ppm, lipid (21.14%) for sturgeon ovary oil treatment 24h- 300ppm, Arachidonic acid (ARA) ( 1.54±0.22mg.g OW) for cod liver oil treatment 24h- 300ppm, EPA (3.53±0.36mg.g OW) for cod liver oil 24h-100ppm, and OHA (3.22 ±0.09mg.g OW) for ICES and linseed treatments 24h-200ppm were obtained. DHA/EPA ratio in sturgeon larvae before active feeding was 1.75 which showed no significant difference compared to ICES in two levels (24h-100 and 200ppm) and linseed in two levels (24h-100 and 200ppm). ANOVA of different treatments showed significant differences between length, CF, survival rate, total lipid, ARA, EPA, and DHA contents of the sturgeon larvae among treatments (P<0.05).