The aim of this study was to determine the short- and long-term effect of rotifer DHA and taurine, individually and through interaction, on larval tissue levels of these nutrients, prey hunting success, growth performance and retinal opsin gene expression, at the end of rotifer and Artemia feeding in developing gilthead sea bream (GSB) (Sparus aurata) larvae. The experiment was designed as a 3 × 3 factorial study in triplicate tanks per treatment. Three levels of rotifer taurine (1.2, 4.9, 10.8 mg g⁻¹ DW) and DHA (5.2, 6.8, 10.1 mg g⁻¹ DW) were tested on 2–14 dph larvae in twenty-seven 400 L V-tanks. All fish were then fed non-taurine enriched Artemia nauplii until 30 dph. There was a significant (P = 0.014) rotifer DHA effect on prey consumption in 13 dph larvae, while rotifer taurine had no marked influence. Rotifer DHA significantly (P = 0.0001) promoted growth (dry weight) alone (P = 0.0001) and through interaction with taurine (P = 0.009) in 31 dph larvae. Moreover, the results implied that rotifer taurine increased assimilation into fish tissue, which resulted in enhanced growth only when prey DHA was below the minimum GSB requirement. Rotifer DHA significantly (P < 0.0001) up-regulated short-wave sensitivity opsin gene expression in 14 dph larvae, while taurine alone had no significant effect. On the other hand, rotifer DHA and taurine individually and through interaction markedly (P < 0.0001, P = 0.022, P < 0.0001, respectively) up-regulated long-wave sensitivity opsin gene expression. However, both prey DHA and taurine did not clearly affect the expression of cone rhodopsin-like 2a and 2b opsin genes. Having said that, rotifer DHA and taurine individually and through interaction significantly (P = 0.034, P = 0.015, P = 0.0005, respectively) affected the gene expression of rod rhodopsin 1. In 31 dph larvae, there was a marked (P < 0.05) rotifer DHA and taurine effect individually and through interaction on the expression of most of the opsin genes analyzed. DHA modulation of the expression of the four cone and rod opsin genes was higher than taurine in younger larvae while taurine appears more dominant over DHA regulating the gene expression of opsin genes in older fish.

本研究的目的是确定轮虫 DHA 和牛磺酸单独和通过相互作用对这些营养物质的幼虫组织水平、猎物成功、生长性能和视网膜视蛋白基因表达的短期和长期影响。轮虫和卤虫在发育中的金头鲷 (GSB) ( Sparus aurata ) 幼虫中取食的研究。实验设计为 3 × 3 析因研究，每个处理重复三次。在 27 个 400 L V 型罐中对 2-14 dph 幼虫测试了三种水平的轮虫牛磺酸（1.2、4.9、10.8 mg g ^-1 DW）和 DHA（5.2、6.8、10.1 mg g ^-1 DW）。然后将所有鱼喂食非牛磺酸富集的卤虫无节幼体直至 30 dph。有一个显着的 (P  = 0.014) 轮虫 DHA 对 13 dph 幼虫的猎物消耗的影响，而轮虫牛磺酸没有显着影响。轮虫 DHA 显着 ( P  = 0.0001) 单独促进生长 (干重) (P = 0.0001) 并通过与牛磺酸相互作用 ( P  = 0.009) 在 31 dph 幼虫中。此外，结果表明轮虫牛磺酸增加了对鱼组织的同化，这导致只有当猎物 DHA 低于最低 GSB 要求时才会促进生长。轮虫 DHA 显着 ( P  < 0.0001) 上调 14 dph 幼虫的短波敏感性视蛋白基因表达，而单独的牛磺酸没有显着影响。另一方面，轮虫 DHA 和牛磺酸单独和通过相互作用显着（P  < 0.0001，P  = 0.022，P < 0.0001，分别）上调长波敏感性视蛋白基因表达。然而，猎物 DHA 和牛磺酸都没有明显影响视锥视紫红质样 2a 和 2b 视蛋白基因的表达。话虽如此，轮虫DHA和牛磺酸单独和通过相互作用显着（分别为P  = 0.034，P  = 0.015，P  = 0.0005）影响视杆紫红质1的基因表达。在31 dph幼虫中，有一个显着的（P < 0.05) 轮虫 DHA 和牛磺酸单独和通过相互作用对大多数分析的视蛋白基因的表达产生影响。在较年轻的幼鱼中，DHA 对四种视蛋白基因表达的调节高于牛磺酸，而牛磺酸似乎比 DHA 更显着地调节老年鱼中视蛋白基因的基因表达。