Micro-Algal Diet for Copepod Culture with Reference to Their Nutritive Value – A Review
K. Altaff, R. Vijayaraj
Abstract
Cultured copepods have been successfully used in the larviculture of various finfish larvae. Over the past few years, there have been several research articles published on copepod culture to cater to the needs of aqua hatcheries and discussed the important role of copepods as suitable feeds for marine finfish larviculture. However, the upscaling of copepod cultures to the commercial level is still a challenge. In this regard, the present review is focused on the culture of copepod utilizing various micro-algal diets with single or in combination with multiple species, and evaluation of nutritional importance of copepods for finfish larviculture. Therefore, the review article paves the way to improve the nutrition in copepod culture through ideal micro-algae andutilization in aqua hatcheries for better results in terms of larval performance in finfish larval rearing.