Effects of different live feeds on the survival of neritic squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana Lesson

Neritic squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana Lesson is one of the commercial squids in Indonesia. The squid is one of the promising candidates for mariculture. However culture of 1 to 7 day-old young squids is still a problem. Among several factors, feed is one of the most probable reasons. The objective of this experiment is to investigate the most suitable live feed for culture of young squid. Squid eggs were collected from Banten Bay waters. The eggs were incubated in a 30-liter capacity tank at room temperature of 26 to 29°C. Newly hatched squids of 4.9 to 5.4 mm in mantle length were used for the experiment. Seawater of 33 ppt salinity was used for culture media. They were placed in a series of cylindrical glass of 11 liters capacity at a density of 1 individual/liter. The cultured cylindrical glass was well aerated. Culture media was changed daily at a rate of 100%. The squids were fed with mysids Mesopodopsis sp, Sirriella sp, harbourfish Ambasis sp and Artemia nauplii for treatments-A, B, C and D, respectively. Each treatment had 5 replications. Survival of the squids was observed daily. At day-7 the average survival rates were 94, 70, 62 and 0% at treatment-A, B, C and D, respectively. At day-14, the average survival rates were 72, 16, 32 and 0% at treatment A, B, C and D, respectively. Mysid Mesopodopsis sp was found to be the best live feed for young squids