Effect of rotifers enriched with taurine on growth and survival activity of red sea bream Pagrus major larvae

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of rotifers enriched with taurine on the growth performance and survival of larval red sea bream Pagrus major. Larvae at 2 days post-hatching (dph; total length 2.33 +/- 0.05 mm) were divided into two groups and fed on rotifers enriched with or without 400 (mg/L) taurine for 17 h. There was no significant difference in activity of rotifers and their fatty acid profiles in rotifers irrespective of enrichment with or without taurine. The taurine content in rotifers significantly increased with increase of time of enrichment, and the final content of taurine was significantly higher than that in rotifers enriched without taurine. Similarly, the taurine content in larvae at 20 dph fed rotifers enriched with taurine (252 mg/100 g) was significantly higher than that in fish fed rotifers enriched without taurine (37 mg/100 g). Larval growth was significantly improved in fish fed rotifers enriched with taurine. In addition, the survival activity index of the larvae was superior to that of fish fed rotifers enriched without taurine. These results indicate that taurine enrichment of rotifers is effective to improve growth and survival activity in red sea bream larvae.