Probiotic, prebiotic and synbiotics supplementation on growth performance and intestinal histomorphometry Pseudoplatystoma reticulatum larvae

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Artemia enriched with probiotic, prebiotic, and synbiotic additives on the growth performance, survival, and intestinal histomorphometry of Pseudoplatystoma reticulatum larvae. The larvae were distributed in 12 incubators at a density of 35 larvae L⁻¹, with an average weight of 0.4 mg and length of 3.20 ± 0.26 mm. After the decapsulation of Artemia nauplii, the organisms were placed in containers with salinized water and aeration for 6 h of enrichment. The treatments were: control (no additives), Bacillus subtilis, inulin, and synbiotic (B. subtilis + inulin) 7 gL⁻¹ day for 12 days. Treatment larvae that received B. subtilis supplementation had better (P < 0.05) length gain, total height, and height of the intestinal villi (P < .05) compared to other treatments. In conclusion, the enrichment of Artemia nauplii with B. subtilis improved the length gain and increased the intestinal villi of the larvae.

KEYWORDS:

• Bacillus subtilis
• carnivorous fish
• larviculture
• enriched
• Artemia salina

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development—CNPq (Proc. No. 552395/2011-0), and a scholarship was granted to the first author by the Foundation of Support for the Development of Education, Science and Technology of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul—Fundect/MS.