Cofeeding of phospholipids to turbot Scophthalmus maximus L-larvae as a tool to reduce live food consumption

The possible benefits of feeding a formulated diet, together with Artemia, to first-feeding turbot larvae were investigated. Five dietary regimes were used: control (Artemia only), cofeeding with a diet rich in phospholipid ( PL) from bovine brain, cofeeding with a diet rich in free fatty acids (FFA) from the same source, cofeeding with a commercial diet (Lansy A2), and a f ormulated feed only (PL-rich diet). All treatments with artificial diets an d the control treatment that received Artemia exclusively gave a similar su rvival rate of the fish at day 29. Cofeeding with artificial diets resulted in a lower growth rate than the control treatment. Cofeeding the larvae wi th PL-rich or FFA-rich diets did not affect the pigmentation or resistance to salt stress of the larvae. Complete substitution of Artemia by the phosh olipid diets from day 20, however, resulted in severe stress and pigmentati on problems. Cofeeding might have interesting features for application sinc e it may reduce the amount and cost of live food and also offer to the fish larvae essential nutrients that are not contained in sufficient amounts in the (enriched) live food.