The effect of dietary n-3 HUFA and 22:6n-3/20:5n-3 ratio on white shrimp larvae and postlarvae

The influence of varying dietary n-3 HUFA concentrations and ratios of 22:6n-3/20:5n-3 (DHA/EPA) on culture performance and fatty acid composition of white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) larvae and postlarvae was verified in two experiments. In a first experiment, shrimp (zoea 2-postlarvae 11) were fed rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis) and Artemia spp. nauplii that were enriched with different self-emulsifying concentrates: one HUFA-free coconut oil (T1), and three iso-HUFA concentrates with DHA/EPA ratios of 0.6 (T2), 2 (T3) and 4 (T4), respectively. In a second experiment, postlarvae were fed for 25 days (starting from postlarvae 10) on isolipidic semi-purified diets: one HUFA-free control (TA), and four iso-HUFA diets with DHA/EPA ratios of 0.6 (TB), 0.9 (TC), 1.8 (TD) and 3.64 (TE), respectively. Experiment 1 revealed no significant differences in production characteristics, except that resistance to a counter-current stress in postlarvae 11 was significantly lower in T1 than in T2 and T3 (p