Zooplankton in Aquaculture: A Perspective on Nutrition and Cost-Effectiveness

Abstract

Successful aquaculture relies on effective feeding strategies for target species, from the larval stage through to sexually mature adults, in both marine and freshwater environments. Aquatic organisms, particularly larvae, instinctively prefer live feeds like algae and zooplankton; larvae are entirely dependent on live feeds due to their undeveloped digestive systems and lack of essential digestive enzymes. Additionally, fishes and crustaceans require essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals for sexual maturity and giving birth to healthy offspring. Zooplankton plays an important role at larval feeding stages in cost-effective aquaculture. Rotifers, cladocerans, copepods, and Artemia are commonly applied in larval rearing. However, naturally live feeds are deficient in valuable nutrients. Consequently, live feeds are improved with essential vitamins, minerals, and amino acids through bio-enrichments and algal diets for better performance. Aquaculturists primarily prefer zooplankton as live prey of larvae in fish and crustacean hatcheries because larvae requires essential digestive enzymes. They always give priority to artificial feeds with minimum live feeds to maximize profit by lowering the cost. Remarkable case studies are discussed on cost-effectiveness of zooplankton in sustainable aquaculture in this manuscript. Therefore, zooplankton as live feed could be a better choice for their nutritional value, palatability, natural availability, and cost-effectiveness. The notable opportunities, challenges, and advanced researches in live feed culture are also described in this current study. Artificial feed probably is a key stroke or booster tool for rapid profit, but live feeds such as zooplankton ensure the nutritional quality for sustainable aquaculture and satisfactory profit.