EFFECT OF CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTATION ON GIANT FRESHWATER PRAWN (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) MOULTING AND EGG QUALITY
Abstract: A breeding program
for giant freshwater prawn has been developed in Indonesia to supply good
quality prawn seed to industry. To achieve the goal of the program, optimum
conditions of both environment and nutrition must be provided. Calcium is the
main compound of the prawn carapace, influencing moulting processes, especially
during the premating moult. The effect of calcium supplementation in the prawn
feed on moulting process and egg quality of giant freshwater prawn,
Macrobrachium rosenbergii, was investigated. Experimental units consisted of
300 L plastic tanks stocked with 4 adult prawns comprising 3 female and 1 male.
A standard prawn feed containing 30.39% crude protein; 0.82% Ca and 0.47% P was
used as the experimental diet. A complete randomized design was‘applied in the
study with 5 dosage levels of dicalcium phosphate i.e. 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8%
with 4 replicates. Prawns were reared over 45 days. There were significant
differences (P<0.05) in premoult, moult, and egg hatching rate, while no
significant differences in intermoult or fecundity were observed (P>0.05).
Egg hatching rate increased liniearly from 26.5%±9.9% to 50.8%±10.3% as calcium
dosage increased from 0% to 8%. The number of eggs per spawn was not
significantly different (P>0.05), ranging from 40,096 to 46,131 for females
weighing 30.19 to 32.94 g. The results of this study suggest that giant
freshwater prawns require dietary calcium supplementation to support moulting process
and egg quality when reared in soft water.
Keywords: calcium; egg
quality; giant freshwater prawn; moulting; spawning
Author: Ikhsan Khasani, Narita
Syawalia Ridzwan, Clive Jones
Journal Code: jpperikanangg120026
