Comparative Study of Artemia (Brine Shrimp) and Ceriodaphnia (Zooplankton) as Foods for Catfish Larvae

Artemia and Ceriodaphnia were used as “first food” for the larvae of Clarias gariepinus, Heterobranchus bidorsalis and their hybrid Heteroclarias in order to determine if Ceriodaphnia could effectively replace Artemia in Nigeria in the production of Catfish fingerlings. The 5-day old fry of C. gariepinus, H. bidorsalis and Heteroclarias weighing 18.5mg, 14.0mg and 13.5mg respectively were stocked in plastic tanks and fed with Artemia nauplii and Ceriodaphnia for 21 days. Growth indices such as Percentage Survival (PS), Specific Growth Rate (SGR), Daily Growth Rate (DGR) and Percentage Weight Gain (PWG) were determined. At the end of the experiment, PS, SGR, DGR and PWG were determined weekly. At the end of the experiment, PS, SGR, DGR and PWG were slightly better in Ceriodaphnia-fed fry of the three species, though the composition of crude protein in Artemia nauplii (63.0%) was higher than that of Ceriodaphnia (58%). However, analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not reveal any significant difference (P>0.05) in the performance of the two experimental foods. The study reveals the potential of Ceriodaphnia as natural food for catfish larvae to produce fast growing species of C. gariepinus (Burchell, 1822), H. bidorsalis (Geoffroy, 1809) and Heteroclarias (reciprocal hybrid)