The Strategy of Phytoplankton Administration in Larval Rearing to Improve the Survival Rate of White Shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) Larvae of F1 and Free-Pathogen

Aims: The white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) larvae F1 is the dream of shrimp cultivators to be cultivated in ponds. This is because F1 larvae have fast growth, especially if the larvae have disease-free certification (specific pathogen-free, SPF). The purpose of this scientific paper is to evaluate strategies for feeding phytoplankton in larval rearing to increase the survival rate of shrimp larvae F1 of white shrimp.

Place and Duration of Study: This research activity was carried out from November to December 2021 at the Shrimp Hatchery Laboratory, Department of Aquaculture Technology, Pankep State Polytechnic Agriculture.

Methodology: The nauplii were obtained from the shrimp hatchery industry and then stocked in 2 units of tanks measuring 4m x 4m x 1.5m. Before stocking, the larvae were acclimatized to temperature (28°C) and salinity (30 ppt). The larvae were fed live feed (Skeletonema costatum) from the stage of Nauplii-6 to Mysis-2. In addition, the larvae were also fed artificial feeds and Artemia nauplii. Observation of larval development was carried out at each stage using a microscope (40x), and observations of the population number of each stage were carried out volumetrically. Parasite analysis of each stage was conducted in the Makassar Fish Quarantine.

Results: The results showed that during the stage shift from Nauplius-6 to Zoea-1, the larvae succeeded in passing the zoea syndrome (empty intestine). The population decline was only reduced by 2% (from 1,200,000 individuals decreased to 1,175,600 individuals). The final population (PL10) was 1,084,000 (SR 90%). The parasite analyses results showed that the larvae were free from any disease. Administration of phytoplankton (S. costatum ) at the early stage (Nauplius-6) at a dose of 60 x 106 cells/ml has succeeded in reducing the mortality rate (2%) in the critical stage (zoea syndrome) of F1 white shrimp larvae.