• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.195-205
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• 2024

Amphipoda is a benthic fauna occupying aquatic environments that can be used as a live feed for mud crabs. The abundance of amphipods in the water is thought to impact the preying capacity of crablets, which in turn will affect their growth performance. This study aims to determine the preying capacity of the crablet stage of Scylla tranquebarica exposed at different densities (20, 30, and 40 amphipods / 0.5 L) of amphipod, Grandidierella megnae. The preying capacity was estimated by counting the number of amphipods ingested by an individual crablet during the 60-day rearing period. The main parameters measured were daily consumption rate (DCR), Cumulative molting (CM), Feed conversion ratio (FCR), and the specific growth rate of weight (SGR-W). The results showed that the DCR and FCR were not affected by amphipod densities but the higher the amphipod density the higher the SGR-W and CM. Based on this study, 30 amphipods / 0.5 L is recommended as the optimal density to optimize the DCR and improve the growth performance of crablets. It is also proposed that surplus live feed will potentially reduce the cannibalism rate of crablets during weaning. However, more research needs to be carried out to elucidate the benefits of crablet-feeding amphipods in communal systems.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.180-194
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• 2024

Mass mortalities of mud crab Scylla spp. larvae due to pathogenic Vibrio spp. outbreaks have frequently occurred in hatcheries. To overcome this problem, probiotics containing Bacillus subtilis bacteria are applied to inhibit pathogenic ones. We tested different doses of probiotic-containing B. subtilis (10⁸ CFU/g) on the Scylla tranquebarica larvae and investigated the microbiota population, including Vibrio. Water quality, larvae development, and crablet production were also monitored. The recently hatched larvae were grown in twelve conical fiber tanks filled with 200 L sterile seawater, with a salinity of 30 ppt at a stocking density of 80 ind/L. Four different doses of probiotics were applied in the larvae rearing, namely, A = 2.5 mg/L, B = 5 mg/L, C = 7.5 mg/L, and D = 0 mg/L, with three replicates. Next-generation sequencing analysis was used to obtain the abundance of microbes in the whole body of megalopa and the water media for larvae rearing after applying probiotics. Sixteen Raw Deoxyribonucleic Acid samples (eight from a whole body of megalopa extraction from four treatments of probiotics defined as A, B, C, D, and eight from water media extraction from four treatments of probiotic defined as E, F, G, H) were prepared. Then, they were sent to the Genetics Science Laboratory for NGS analysis. Ammonia, nitrite, total organic matter (TOM), larvae, and crablet production were monitored. Based on the Next-generation sequencing analysis data, the Vibrio spp. decreased significantly (p < 0.05) than control test (D) in megalopa-applied probiotics at the doses of 2.5 mg/L (A) and 7.5 mg/L (C) and in the water media for megalopa rearing treated with probiotics at the dosage of 5.0 mg/L (F). Ammonia in the zoea stage in B treatment and TOM in the zoea and megalopa stage in B and C treatments were decreased significantly (p < 0.05). It impacts the higher number of zoea survival in treatments B and C. Finally, it results in a significantly high crablet production in treatments B and C. Therefore, the dosage of 5 mg/L to 7.5 mg/L improves crablet S. tranquebarica production significantly.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.257-264
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• 2009

Seventeen females of the mud crab Scylla serrata, from the State of Kosrae, Micronesia, were transported to the Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Gyeongsangnam-do, in oxygen-filled plastic bags. After acclimatization to a $30^{\circ}C$ holding temperature, nine females were selected for seed production trials. Spawning was hastened using eyestalk ablations; however, this may not be required in commercialscale mud crab seed production. Primary spawning produced an average of 2.4 million hatched larvae, whereas secondary spawning produced 0.4 million. About 10 days elapsed between spawning and hatching and 30 days between hatching and crablet. Mass mortalities up to 90% were observed between stages zoea 1 and zoea 2 in every trial. The highest survival rate from zoea 1 to crablet was estimated at 0.25%. Most commercial shrimp hatcheries in Korea are equipped with almost all necessary facilities and could be converted easily to mud crab hatcheries, able to run three to four times per year using hatchery technologies developed for blue crabs and Chinese mitten crabs.