Combined Effect of Salinity and Temperature on Survival, Growth and Larval Development of the Freshwater SHRIMP, Macrobrachium vollenhovenii (Herklots, 1857) Collected in the Bia River (Côte d’Ivoire)

Abstract

The shrimp Macrobrachium vollenhovenii has great potential for aquaculture in Côte d'Ivoire. For a better understanding of the effect of temperature and salinity on larval culture in the process of its domestication, three temperatures (26°C, 28°C, and 30°C) and their combined effects with three salinity levels (14, 16, and 18 PSU) on developing stages from zoea I (Z1) to post-larvae 1 (PL1) were studied in two separate experiments over 63 days. The larvae were obtained in captivity from broodstock collected from the River Bia. In the first experiment, Z1 larvae raised at 26°C showed the lowest survival rate (44.5 ± 2.10%) to the zoea V stage compared with 66.8 ± 6.79% at 28°C, 54.7 ± 2.04% at 30°C (p ˂ 0.05). Also, 26°C slowed growth and delayed larval development by around 6 days. The growth rate at 28°C (0.107 ± 0.02 mm/day) was the highest compared with that (0.046 ± 0.01mm/day) at 26°C and (0.063 ± 0.02 mm/day) at 30°C (p ˂ 0.05). Consequently, a water temperature of around 28°C is optimal for larval culture of this species. The second experiment showed that temperature and salinity influence larval survival and/or development. Only a salinity of 16 PSU resulted in the highest PL1 survival rate (1.4%) at 28°C, with a larval stage index of 1.23. Based on survival, growth, and development results, the best combination of salinity and temperature for breeding M.vollenhovenii larvae is 16 PSU and 28°C.