Suitability of the Copepod Gladioferens imparipes for Intensive Cultivation for Aquaculture

Abstract

For successful economic cultivation of finfish, it is important that live food be available for early fish larvae. The benefits of providing copepods as live food are well known, but reliable supply of copepods continues to be a challenge for the industry. This chapter discusses the relative benefits of working with different types of copepods, with special attention to the development of culture techniques and fish-feeding trials using the calanoid copepod Gladioferens imparipes. It is argued that the natural history and evolution of different copepods makes some species more amenable to intensive cultivation than others, and even for those that can be cultivated, some have attributes that make them more useful than others in different branches of the aquaculture industry. This chapter focuses on aspects of copepod feeding and nutrition, life cycle, and behavior in relation to techniques for intensive cultivation.