CULTURING THE FAIRY SHRIMP STREPTOCEPHALUS DICHOTOMUS BAIRD USING LIVESTOCK WASTE - A RECLAMATION STUDY

The present study describes a defined culture technique for the fairy shrimp, Streptocephalus dichotomus. It emphasizes reclamation of low-c ost organic live-stock waste (cow-dung),lime powder, and urea. These c ompounds were used to enrich algal and diatom populations in the mediu m. These algae and diatoms were fed to filter feeding fairy shrimps to yield anostracan biomass. A production of 262 +/- 6 animals l(-1) was obtained in an experimental tank compared to 36 +/- 4 animals l(-1) i n the controls. Interestingly, the total number of clutches in experim ental females (12 +/- 2), relative to the control (7 +/- 1), increased too.