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.
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