Effect of feeding frequency on digestive function of gilthead seabream Sparus aurata larvae fed on microdiet

Abstract

Larval stage is considered the mail bottleneck in marine fish culture due to high mortalities produced during this period. Most of the problems related with feeding and nutrition may be related to the lack of a detailed knowledge on the digestive process during the weaning process. Inadequate feeding regime during the larval stage is reflects in hihg mortalities. The aim of this study was to describe the effect of different microdiets feeding regimes (2, 4 and 8 times a day) on digestive physiology of 10 days post-hatching (dph) gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) larvae during a 24 h cycle.