Aquaculture of ornamental marine fish for the aquarium trade is a possible solution to the negative environmental impacts of wild collection. An impasse to the culture of many marine fish species is high larval mortality due to unsuitable live feeds. Common live feeds can be too large for ornamental species, which often have larvae with small mouths. We tested wild oyster larvae as an alternative live feed for first-feeding blue tang Paracanthurus hepatus. P. hepatus readily consumed oyster larvae but did not consume rotifers. Survival and growth of P. hepatus fed oyster larvae was similar to unfed controls, likely due to the oyster trochophores developing into indigestible veligers. Restricting the diet of P. hepatus to only oyster trochophores improved survival and eye development, but survival rates remained low. Oyster trochophores were conditioned in pH 4.8 seawater to compromise their aragonite shells, and P. hepatus fed these had higher survival at 5 d post-hatch (dph) compared to those fed untreated trochophores and were the only fish surviving to 10 dph. The high consumption rates of oyster larvae by P. hepatus highlight the potential for bivalve larvae to be used as live feeds for first-feeding larval fish. Further research into improving the nutritional value of oyster larvae for larval fish may improve their viability as first feeds.

中文翻译：

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牡蛎幼虫作为小嘴观赏鱼幼鱼的潜在首选饲料

用于水族贸易的观赏海鱼的水产养殖是解决野生采集对环境的负面影响的可能方法。许多海洋鱼类养殖的一个僵局是由于不合适的活饲料导致高幼体死亡率。常见的活饲料对于观赏物种来说可能太大，因为它们通常有小嘴的幼虫。我们测试了野生牡蛎幼虫作为首次饲喂蓝塘 Paracanthurus hepatus 的替代活饲料。P. hepatus 很容易食用牡蛎幼虫，但不食用轮虫。P. hepatus 喂养的牡蛎幼虫的存活和生长与未喂养的对照组相似，可能是由于牡蛎承载体发育成难以消化的 veligers。将 P. hepatus 的饮食限制为仅牡蛎承载体可以改善存活率和眼睛发育，但存活率仍然很低。牡蛎承载体在 pH 4.8 的海水中进行调节以破坏其文石壳，与喂养未处理的承载体的那些相比，喂养这些的 P. hepatus 在孵化后 5 天 (dph) 具有更高的存活率，并且是唯一能存活到 10 dph 的鱼。P. hepatus 对牡蛎幼虫的高消费率突出了双壳类幼虫被用作首次喂养的幼体鱼的活饲料的潜力。进一步研究提高牡蛎幼虫对幼鱼的营养价值可能会提高它们作为第一饲料的生存能力。hepatus 突出了双壳类幼虫被用作首次喂养的幼体鱼的活饲料的潜力。进一步研究提高牡蛎幼虫对幼鱼的营养价值可能会提高它们作为第一饲料的生存能力。hepatus 突出了双壳类幼虫被用作首次喂养的幼体鱼的活饲料的潜力。进一步研究提高牡蛎幼虫对幼鱼的营养价值可能会提高它们作为第一饲料的生存能力。