Nadiah W. Rasdi and Jian G.
Abstract
In hatchery, an adequate supply of live food for first feeding fish larvae is essential and nutritional quality of live food organisms can be improved through nutrient enrichment. The use of live food organisms, especially at first feeding, is a requisite for most marine fish larvae. In ocean, freshwater fish larvae primarily feed on Moina sp., but the production protocols for Moina sp that are able to tolerate with brackish environment together with an appropriate feed types are still underdeveloped in hatchery. As the food ingestion and the digestive system of cladocerans are different from other live food organisms (e.g., rotifers), the nutrition enrichment procedures with emulsion oil used in rotifers is not effective on cladocerans. This review focuses on the potential of producing a salt tolerate zooplankton species of Moina sp. and the importance of feeding types in Moina sp. production. Specifically, we discuss the relationship between the salinity and food availability in Moina sp. The review links nutrient supply to Moina sp. and the change of nutrition in Moina sp. and suggests ways to improve cladocerans nutrition in hatcheries.