A Preliminary Evaluation of Naturally Occurring Organisms, Distillery By-Products, and Prepared Diets as Food for Juvenile Freshwater Prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii

Abstract

The relative acceptability and suitability of naturally occurring pond organisms identified as likely natural food items for juvenile freshwater prawn, Macrobrachiurn msenbergii, were evaluated under controlled conditions. The potential of direct consumption of materials used as organic pond fertilizer (distillers dried grains with solubles [DDGS] was also evaluated. Growth and survival of prawn fed gastropods, oligochaetes, zooplankton, or DDGS were compared with those fed a nutritionally-complete pellcted diet (control). Groups of five juvenile prawn (average weight 1.66 ± 0.10 g) were stocked into eighteen 7.5-L glass aquaria. Dietary treatments were evaluated in triplicate aquaria for 21 days. Prawn fed live zooplankton exhibited a significantly higher rate of weight gain (P < 0.05) than drawn in other treatments, as measured by differences in slopes of regression lines for weight gain over time. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in rates of gain for prawn fed a complete diet and those fed DDGS or gastropods. Prawn fed oligochaetes grew significantly slower (P < 0.05) than those fed the prepared diet. Results indicate that juvenile prawn as large or larger than 2g can utilize live zooplankton and that DDGS may be consumed directly by prawn. Thus, DDGS may serve a dual role as a feed and pond fertilizer. Additional research in pond management strategies that maximize zooplankton and gastropod numbers and the potential of DDGS as a combination food/fertilizer in freshwater prawn production ponds should be conducted.