Effect of probiotic bacteria Bacillus licheniformis and Lactobacillus rhamnosus on growth of the Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

The effects of single and combined use of two different probiotic bacterial species, Bacillus licheniformis and Lactobacillus rhamnosus on growth performance of Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei was evaluated. Shrimp were treated with probiotics in entire crop duration with different test diets. Twelve culture ponds were divided into four groups of each three, Control (CP) without probiotic treatment and experimental (PB1: Bacillus licheniformis; PB2: Lactobacillus rhamnosus; PB3: Bacillus licheniformis & Lactobacillus rhamnosus) probiotic treated groups. Test diets were prepared with Bacillus licheniformis for PB1 @ ~10 billion CFU/kg, PB2 prepared with Lactobacillus rhamnosus @~ 8 billion CFU/ kg feed and PB3 was supplemented with both bacterial species in similar concentrations. Shrimp growth parameters, Net Weight Gain (NWG), Specific Growth Rate (SGR), Average Body Weight (ABW), and Average Daily Weight Gain (ADWG) were recorded at different intervals (30, 60, 90 and 120 days) of culture duration in both control and probiotic treated shrimp. Probiotic fed shrimp showed significantly higher (P< 0.01) growth than the control (CP) group. Among the probiotic treated experimental groups, PB3 showed maximum percent increase in all the growth parameters was observed. The results of this study indicated that the multiple probiotic strains have a greater influence to improve the growth of shrimp.