Effects of feeding Artemia franciscana enriched with HUFA, vitamins C and E on growth performance, survival and stress resistance of cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis) (Ehrenberg, 1831)

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of using Artemia franciscana enriched with cod liver oil and vitamins C and E on the growth, survival and stress resistance of juvenile Sepia pharaonis (Pharaoh cuttlefish). Twenty-five days after hatching, the larvae of S. pharaonis were transferred into culture tanks with an average length of 15.97±0.15 mm and average body weight of 3.53±0.03 g, in eleven treatments (with 3 replicates). The treatments included: highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) +5, 10 and 15% vitamin E-enriched Artemia (E1, E2 and E3 groups, respectively), HUFA+5, 10 and 15% vitamin C-enriched Artemia (C1, C2 and C3 groups, respectively), HUFA+2.5% (w/w) vitamins C- and E-enriched Artemia (CE1 group), HUFA+5% (w/w) vitamins C- and E-enriched Artemia (CE2 group), HUFA+7.5% (w/w) vitamins C- and E-enriched Artemia (CE3 group), HUFA without vitamins (HUFA group) and non-enriched Artemia (control). For each replicate, 20 larvae were introduced into tanks of 20 L, and 10 Artemia L-1 day-1 were used to feed the larvae. At the end of the experiment, to investigate stress resistance, three groups of larvae were submitted to one hour stress at three levels of salinity (5, 15 and 25 ppt), and temperature (10, 25 and 32 °C). The results showed that cuttlefish fed with CE1, CE2, CE3 and larvae fed with HUFA without vitamins were significantly different (p<0.05) with regards to growth performance and survival as compared with the control. Feeding with vitamin C and unsaturated fatty acid elevated the survival and growth factors of S. pharaonis larvae. Also, the survival of larvae against induced stress increased (p<0.05).