Study of survival and growth performance of Kutum (Rutilus frisii kutum) fed by oil emulsion-enriched Daphnia magna

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of daphnia (Daphnia magna) enriched with essential fatty acids on growth and survival larval kutum (Rutilus frisii kutum) of the Caspian Sea over two weeks. The Kutum fish fries had initial weight of 52.62 mg which were in triplicate with daphnia enriched with essential fatty acids, non-enriched daphnia and hand-fed biomar diet. The results indicated significant difference in growth performance between three treatments (p<0.05). The maximum specific growth rate (8.5±00 % d-1), weight gain (120.48±2.1 g) and final total length (31.3±0.1 cm) were observed in the daphnia treatment enriched by essential fatty acid. However, there was no significant difference in survival rate between treatments (p>0.05). This study showed that enrichment of daphnia with essential fatty acid enhances growth performance.