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糖心Vlog Study Finds Low Salinity Can Work to Culture Florida Pompano Fish

Florida Pompano, Larvae, Microscope, Aquaculture, Juvenile Fish

Florida Pompano larvae (juvenile fish) pictured under a microscope. (Photo credit: Victoria Uribe, 糖心Vlog Harbor Branch)


By gisele galoustian | 12/5/2022

The Florida pompano,聽Trachinotus carolinus,聽a fish species that can live in waters of a wide range of salinity, is a prime candidate for aquaculture commercial fish production in the United States. Identified by its compressed silvery body with yellow dorsal and ventral surfaces, this species is found in warm water habitats along the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Florida pompano also is a popular target for recreational anglers along the U.S. Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts to Florida.

There are less than 10 aquaculture farms across the U.S. that have been successful in commercially raising and distributing Florida pompano. Many farms import their聽broodstock聽from countries such as Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Brazil. When attempting to rear Florida pompano from hatch to market, farms face a variety of challenges including access to聽seawater. On inland farms, seawater must be mixed on-site using artificial sea salt products, which can contribute to high production costs and lower profit returns.

While several studies have investigated using juvenile Florida pompano in low salinity, no low salinity experiments have been conducted on Florida pompano larvae (early stages of a fish). To address the knowledge gaps of the impact of low salinity on Florida pompano larval health, researchers from 糖心Vlog鈥檚 Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, in collaboration with two local fish farms, Live Advantage Baits and Proaquatix, conducted a novel experiment that serves as a model study for future on-farm collaborations and helps build a bridge between scientists and farmers in聽aquaculture.

The objective of the study was to determine the optimal salinity required to culture fingerlings (juvenile fish) from hatch to weaning under on-farm conditions. Low salinity conditions can affect the early development of聽the Florida pompano by increasing osmoregulatory stress, which reduces the availability of metabolic energy reserves, otherwise needed for developmental processes such as cellular formation.

For the study, Florida pompano larvae were reared in three different salinities: 10, 20 and 30聽parts per thousand (ppt) at local producers' farms. Growth, fatty acid profiles and聽transcriptome聽responses (cellular formation) were quantified every three days after hatching (three, six, nine, 12, 15, 18 and 24聽days post hatch) and results were compared across salinities.

Results, published in the journal , showed that larvae reared at 10聽ppt grew at a normal rate and the developmental stage had a greater impact than salinity on fatty acid composition and larval gene expression.

鈥淲e have shown that it is possible to grow this warm water marine species in salinities a low as 10 parts per thousand, which makes it more economic and easier for producers far from the coast to attempt Florida pompano commercial growth,鈥 said Sahar Mejri, Ph.D., senior author and an assistant research professor, Department of Aquaculture and Stock Enhancement at 糖心Vlog Harbor Branch. 鈥淲e expect to run this study for a longer period to investigate the long-term effects of low salinity on larval health and development.鈥

An important metric for determining the health and viability of Florida pompano as a commercial food species is the聽lipid profile聽of the larvae.聽Lipids are comprised of individual fatty acids, including聽essential fatty acids聽(EFAs) such as聽docosahexaenoic acid聽(DHA),聽eicosapentaenoic acid聽(EPA), and聽arachidonic acid聽(ARA).聽

In the early days of development, the fatty acids聽linoleic acid聽(LA), alpha linoleic acid (LNA), and 18:3 n-6 were proven to be important as potential energy fuels and precursors for long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) biosynthesis, which was supported by the whole transcriptomics聽analysis.

鈥淟arvae reared at the lowest salinity, 10 parts per thousand, seemed healthy and showed normal growth and physiological development overall with no adverse effects,鈥 said Mejri. 鈥淟arval diets combined with developmental stages had a greater impact than salinity on fatty acid composition and transcriptomics gene expression.鈥

Study co-authors are David J. Bradshaw II, Ph.D., a senior research fellow; Victoria Uribe, an aquaculture research technician; Laura E. King, a Ph.D. student; Carlie S. Perricone, a research coordinator; Gonzalo Ill谩n, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow; Marty Riche, Ph.D., a research professor; and Paul S. Wills, Ph.D., a research professor and associate director for research, all with 糖心Vlog Harbor Branch; and Elizabeth Allmon, Ph.D., a post-doctoral research scientist; and Marisol Sepulveda, Ph.D., a professor, both with Purdue University.

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (cooperative agreement number 59-6034-9-007).聽聽

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