Larval rearing of the Mekong catfish, Pangasius bocourti (Pangasiidae, Siluroidei): Substitution of Artemia nauplii with live and artificial feed

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of brine shrimp naupl ii (Artemia sp.), Cladocera (Moina sp.), Tubifex worms and a trout starter diet on growth performances and survival rate of Mekong catfish larvae (Pan gasius bocourti Sauvage, 1880). Larvae accepted all four types of experimen tal diets, owing to large mouth opening at the first feeding (0.6-1.0 mm at 45 degrees and 90 degrees mouth opening, respectively). Artemia nauplii an d Tubifex worms resulted in the same growth performances and survival rates for a 9-d nursing time with specific growth rates of 36-37%.d(-1) and surv ival rates of 92-93%. Moina led to a lower growth performance (31%.d(-1)) b ut the survival rate (94%) was not significantly different to that of larva e fed Artemia nauplii or Tubifex worms. Trout starter feed, dry pellet, pro ved relatively less suitable for larval rearing of P. bocourti owing to a l ow survival rate (68%) and growth performance (21%.d(-1)). The study confir med the feasibility of completely replacing Artemia nauplii by Tubifex worm s. (C) Ifremer/Cnrs/Inra/Ird/Cemagre//Elsevier, Paris.