• Journal of Aquaculture
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.277-284
• /
• 2000

Rabbitfish hatchlings were given a mixed food of rotifers (Brachionus rotundiformis) and trochophore larvae of oyster. Only the oyster-trochophore larvae were found in the gut of 62-h old fish larvae. The fish larvae, fed on rotifer and ciliate alone did not survive. However, their survival increased to 3.3 % on the 10th day after hatching, when trochophore was supplemented. Corresponding with the accelerated growth, the number of rotifers consumed increased from 11 in a 5-day old fish to 165 in a IS-day old fish. In a field ecosystem containing live diatom, Nannochloropsis oculata, rotifers and copepods, fish larvae were shocked and the oyster's trochophore larvae were fed from 2 to 7 days after hatching. A total of 76,000 seedling were produced after 50 days of hatching with 12.7 % survival. Mean total length and body weight were 65.6 mm and 3.4 g, respectively. Growth of body length (BL), body height (BH), body weight (BW) and head length (HL) as a function of the total length (TL) showed regressional relationships as follows; BL=0.8565 TL+0.0852 ($t^2$=0.9996); BH=0.3207 TL - 0.5052 (($t^2$=0.9641) BW=0.0652 TL2.3508 (($t^2$=0.9925); HL=0.2595 TL - 0.1898 (($t^2$=0.9901)