Abstract:
This study was conducted to evaluate a temperature regime ranged from 15 to 30°C on
survival, growth, life span and reproductive traits (reproductive period, clutch number,
offspring number) of Phallocryptus spinosa from Iran. Newly hatched nauplii (N= 200 and
3 replicates per each treatment) were allocated into containers and maintained at various
temperature regimes (at 15, 20, 25 and 30˚C). During trial, the larvae were fed with
unicellular algae Dunaliella tertiolecta and Lansy PZ (lipid-enriched yeast). Survival and
growth rate of P. spinosa with an interval of 3 days to 18 days were examined. After
attaining adulthood, 16 pairs of adult P. spinosa were transferred from all culture vessels
into separate containers supplied with 300 ml of brackish water (5 ppt) and similar
temperatures to compare their life span and reproductive traits. Based on results
obtained, maximum growth at shortest period (13.2±2.0 mm on day 12) was observed at
30°C; whereas, all P. spinosa died before reaching sexual maturity by day 15. Maximum
survival (86%) was observed at 15°C; however, minimum growth also was obtained at the
same temperature with none of P. spinosa reaching sexual adulthood. On the 18th day, P.
spinosa reached sexual adulthood only at 20 and 25°C. Furthermore, a significant
difference was observed in most of the reproductive traits especially in total egg
production per female at 20°C. Thus, it seems that 20°C is the suitable temperature to
rear this fairy shrimp. Future studies should be focused on the feasibility of mass
production of this species as a valuable live feed in the aquaculture industry.
Keywords: Fairy shrimp, Growth, Survival, Life span, Reproductive characteristics
