Efect of three types of live preys on larviculture of the transandean shovelnose catfish (Sorubim cuspicaudus)

Objective. Assess the effect of different live prey in the larviculture of Trans-andean shovelnose catfish (Sorubim cuspicaudus). Materials and methods. At the beginning of exogenous feeding, zooplankton produced in mesocosm (T1), wild zooplankton (T2) and brine shrimp (T3), in concentrations of 10.000 zoop/L, were fed twice daily, for six days. 18 five-liter useful volume aquariums were used, with density of 25 Larvas/L, and six replicas per treatment in a random design. The increase in weight (Gp) length (Gl), the specific growth rate (G), survival (S), stress resistance (Re), accumulated mortality (Ma) and mortality due to cannibalism (Mc) were measured. Results. Larvae fed with mesocosm presented the highest survival rate (81.3±15.9%), although larvae fed wild zooplankton (T2) had the highest growth (Gp, Gl, G), and recorded the highest accumulated mortality (42.0±10.7%) and the lowest resistance to stress (30.0±33.0%). Cannibalism was observed in all treatments, ranging from 4.0 (T2) to 14.3% (T1) no significant difference between these values (p>0.05) was observed. Conclusions. The use of zooplankton produced under controlled conditions allows high survival, adequate performance and resistance of the larvae, emerging as viable alternative for the first feeding of white catfish.