1Faculty of Marine Science, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Minato, Tokyo 108-8477, 2Marubeni Nisshin Feed Inc., Chuo, Tokyo 103-0027, 3Notojima Station, National Center for Stock Enhancement, Fisheries Research Agency, Notojima, Ishikawa 926-0216, Japan
This study was conducted to investigate the effect of rotifers enriched with taurine on the growth performance of larval Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus. Rotifers enriched with 400 and 800 (mg/L) taurine or without taurine and thus having different levels of taurine were given to larvae for 16 days. The taurine content in rotifers significantly increased with the increase of time of enrichment and different taurine levels. Similarly, the taurine content in larvae at 16 dph fed rotifers enriched with taurine (205.2 and 453.5 mg/100g) was significantly higher than that in fish fed rotifers not enriched with taurine (53.3 mg/100 g). Larval growth was significantly improved by the feeding of rotifers enriched with taurine. In addition, morphological development of the larvae was superior to that of fish fed rotifers not enriched with taurine. These results suggest that the taurine content in rotifer affects both the growth and development of Japanese flounder larvae, and the taurine enrichment of rotifer is effective at the level of 400 mg/L (165.0-303.5 mg/100 g dry weight in rotifer).