Effect of commercial probiotic on the population dynamics of selected rotifers ( <i>Brachionus angularis</i> , <i>Plationus patulus</i> ) and cladocerans ( <i>Moina</i> cf. <i>macrocopa</i> and <i>Simocephalus mixtus</i> )
Rubén Alonso Contreras‐Tapia, María Elena Castellanos‐Páez, S. Nandini, Manuel Castillo‐Rivera, Marcela Ivonne Benítez‐Díaz‐Mirón, Gabriela Garza‐Mouriño
Abstract
In recent decades, an increasing interest in aquaculture for producing good quality and quantity of live food has led to the use of probiotics. Rotifers and cladocerans are important as live prey for fish and invertebrate larval rearing. We carried out an experimental study to evaluate the effect of a commercial probiotic (NanoCrusta®) on improving population growth of Brachionus angularis, Plationus patulus, Moina cf. macrocopa and Simocephalus mixtus. The probiotic was tested by direct supplementation (2.1 × 106, 4.2 × 106, 8.5 × 106 and 1.7 × 107 cells/ml) in addition to C. vulgaris as a source of food (1 × 106 cells/ml). The results indicated that probiotics enhanced maximum population density (Dmax) and the population growth rate (r) in both zooplankton groups. At 4.2 × 106 cells/ml, B. angularis improved their Dmax (62.74%) and r (28%) compared with probiotic-free control, while P. patulus enhanced their Dmax and r by 51.26% and 20.83% (probiotic at 8.5 × 106 cells/ml). The two lowest probiotic densities resulted in an improvement in the parameters compared with the probiotic-free control treatments: M. cf. macrocopa enhanced Dmax by 14.82% and r by 18%, and S. mixtus incremented Dmax 10.92% and r by 10%. The addition of probiotic bacteria also resulted in an improvement in the rotifer egg ratio (ER).