This experiment was conducted to investigate the suitable feeding schedule of Artemia nauplii (Expt. I) and the effect of enrichment of live foods (Expt. II) on the survival rate, carapace width and total days to reach each developmental stage of the larval mud crab. Two feeding experiments were carried out in one liter plastic beakers in each containing 30 larvae.
The crab fed Artemia nauplii from zoea 3 stage, showed high survival rate compared with the another treatments. The enrichment of both rotifer and Artemia nauplii with n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (n-3HUFA) affects the carapace width and survival rate of mud crab larvae.
These results indicated that larval crab require n-3HUFA in live food (enriched rotifer and Artemia nauplii) as essential fatty acids and should be given the enriched Artemia nauplii from zoea 3 stage in order to attain a high survival rate of the first mud crab.