Supplementing Broodstock and Larval Diets for Florida Pompano Trachinotus carolinus With Taurine to Improve Egg, Larval, and Weaned Juvenile Quality

Abstract

Abstract Florida Pompano have been identified as an ideal species for aquaculture in America. As with many cultured marine finfish species there is a production bottleneck between egg and weaned juveniles. Florida Pompano have the potential to produce up to 1.5 million eggs but it is not uncommon to have survivability of 5% to 15% from eggs to weaned juveniles. Recent research shows that amino acids supplemented in broodstock diets were passed onto the eggs. Taurine, a 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid, is a common organic compound and has been suggested to help enhance egg quality. To evaluate the potential of taurine supplementation for Florida Pompano broodstock and larvae, a 2x2 factorial experiment was conducted, where two group of adult fish received formulated gel diets with or without taurine supplementation, and the resulting larvae were divided to receive taurine-supplemented or un-supplemented live prey. Broodstock received experimental diets three times a day for 3 weeks prior to spawning, while the larvae were raised on an otherwise standard protocol based on rotifers and Artemia enriched with a commercial emulsion and weaned on a dry feed at 15 days-post-hatch when the trial was terminated. Results show that the supplementation of the broodstock diets with taurine had a beneficial effect in terms of egg yolk and oil globule size which are indicators of good egg quality. The results from the 15 dph larvae show that there isn’t a significant interaction between the treatments when it comes to the lengths of the larvae. However, there is an interaction between the treatments for the weights of the larvae. The data supports recommendations of supplementing broodstock feeds while not supplementing the live prey for the larvae.