Production and Collection of Copepod Nauplii from Brackish Water Ponds

Abstract

Copepod nauplii are a nutritious food item for first-feeding marine fish larvae. Unfortunately, mass culture techniques for producing copepod nauplii are not well established. Copepod nauplii can be collected from wild zooplankton populations or specially prepared ponds and transferred to larval fish tanks for feeding. This study evaluated the use of two trapping methods for harvesting zooplankton, particularly copepod nauplii, from fertilized ponds and the impact on the zooplankton population. Nine, 0.11 ha brackish-water (∼2-7 ppt salinity) ponds were filled and fertilized with organic and inorganic fertilizers. The change in zooplankton abundance, mainly rotifers, nauplii and adult copepods, was monitored in the ponds for 22 d following initial pond filling. Beginning on day 8, three ponds were trapped with a large plankton net (Trap I), three with a pump and bag trap method (Trap II), and three ponds were not trapped. The ponds were trapped with the corresponding method for 1 h per day, for 15 d. The two trapping methods were similar in their efficiency to harvest nauplii, averaging 8,383,400 ± 2,508,378/h and 6,695,822 ± 433,533/h for Traps I and II, respectively. The zooplankton harvested by Trap I was not correlated to the densities in the ponds. However, the number of rotifers and nauplii harvested by Trap II was correlated to the rotifer and nauplii densities in the ponds. Both trapping methods were similar in terms of labor requirements and ease of use. Both methods were effective in collecting zooplankton without negatively impacting pond abundance.

KEYWORDS:

• zooplankton abundance
• copepod nauplii
• zooplankton collection
• Brachionus plicatilis
• Apocyclops panamensis

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by USDA Special Research Grant PO 2002-06152. The authors are grateful for the assistance provided by the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in providing the facilities of the Claude Peteet Mariculture Center to conduct the study. The authors are especially appreciative of the efforts of Dr. Jesse Chappel in obtaining the plankton net used in this study.