International study on <i>Artemia</i> : 30. Bio-economic evaluation of the nutritional value for carp (<i>Cyprinus carpio</i> L.) larvae of nine <i>Artemia</i> strains

The nutritional value of fresh hatched nauplii from nine geographical strains of brine shrimp, Artemia , was determined for larvae of the carp (Cyprinus carpio). After 2 weeks of culture, the survival of carp larvae was over 90% and no significant differences in survival among treatments were detected. The growth rate of the larvae, however, was a function of the Artemia strain used. The highest weight gains were recorded with parthenogenetic Artemia , to the lowest with Chaplin Lake brine shrimp and intermediate results with the other bisexual strains. With the exception of the Chaplin lake strain, the growth results were positively correlated with the size and weight of the nauplii used. A bio-economic study revealed that although all Artemia strains supported good survival and growth in carp larvae, the selection of specific cyst sources may result in important savings of Artemia cyst use in aquaculture hatcheries