Effects of Nursing Methods, Astaxanthin Supplementation and Water Quality on the Survival of Blue Swimming Crablets (Portunus pelagicus, Linnaeus, 1758)

Abstract

The present research investigated the effects of nursing on blue swimming cablets(Portunus pelagicus Linnaeus, 1758) between Cup and Substrate methods for 35 dayson the survival and growth with and without astaxanthin supplementation. Fourtreatments (Cup + Asta), (only Cup), (Substrate + Asta) and (only Substrate) werereplicated three times in plastic tanks (500 L). Growth performance and the waterquality parameters were monitored weekly. Results showed that there was nosignificant difference (P>0.05) between with and without astaxanthinsupplementation in terms of survival, weight and carapace width. The survival ofcrablets decreased linearly over the nursing period and final survival of crablets in theCup method (63.0%) remained three times higher (P