The effect of unilateral eyestalk ablation and diet on the reproductive performance of wild-caught Farfantepenaeus aztecus (Ives, 1891) using a closed recirculating maturation system

Two studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of unilateral eyestalk ablation and diet on the reproductive performance of wild populations of Farfantepenaeus aztecus. In both studies, females in two treatments were unilaterally ablated while those in the control treatment were not. Shrimp in the non-ablated treatment and one of the unilaterally ablated treatments received frozen bloodworms (8% BW day(-1)) and frozen squid (12% BW day(-1)). The bloodworm component of the diet of the third unilateral ablation treatment was replaced with frozen adult enriched Artemia sp. Ablated female population spawning per night, in both studies, was higher than non-ablated spawning (8.5 and 8.9 vs. 2.6%; 7.4 and 7.5 vs. 2.7% respectively; P < 0.05). Replacement of bloodworms with adult enriched Artemia sp. had no negative effect on the number of eggs spawned per ablated female (124 000 vs. 115 000 eggs spawn(-1); 144 000 vs. 151 000 eggs spawn(-1) respectively; P > 0.05). The life span of ablated females fed adult enriched Artemia sp. was 8 and 40 days longer than ablated females fed bloodworms for the first and second studies respectively. Replacement of bloodworms with adult enriched Artemia sp. resulted in higher hatch and larval survival rates (Nauplius 1 to Zoea 1) (55.0% vs. 46.9% and 44.8% vs. 37.2%), respectively, P < 0.05.