Abstract

Different monoalgal diets were used to determine feeding dynamics for the Queen Conch Strombus gigas larva. The diets used were: I. aff. galbana, T. chuii, T. suecica, T. fluviatilis, C. coccoides. D. tertiolecta y Chaetoceros sp. The ingestion and digestion of each diet by S. gigas larva were evaluated at four larval ages: 1, 10, 18 and 30 days after hatching. Larva were reared at 100 larvae/l and, culture temperature was kept at 27 +- 1°C. The ingestion and digestion measurement were determined in a direct way by the epifluorescence technique and characterized in four cualitative stages of nutrition. According to the nutritional stages the absolute ingestion and digestion indices were calculated for each diet and larval age. Both indices were used to compare feeding behavior between the different alga and larval age. In function of this behavior the different diets were classified in potential and no potential diets for larval rearing of the gastropod Strombus gigas.

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