effects of enriched artemia with n–3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids on growth performance, stress resistance and fatty acid profile of litopenaeus vannamei postlarvae

A 15-day study was conducted to evaluate the effects of artemia metanauplii enriched with two commercial supplements (easy dha-selco and s. presso) which contained high levels of n–3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n–3 lc-pufa) on growth performance, stress resistance and fatty acid profile of litopenaeus vannamei post larvae (pl). in this regard, pl were fed with three different types of artemia including: (1) newly hatched artemia franciscana nauplii as the control group; (2) artemia metanauplii enriched with easy dha-selco; and (3) artemia metanauplii enriched with s. presso. survival rates did not change among different groups. pl fed artemia enriched with the s. presso and the easy dha-selco showed the highest wet and dry weight, respectively (p<0.05). moreover, pl fed artemia enriched with the commercial emulsions had higher survival rate (~ 10 %) than treatments fed newly hatched artemia (p<0.05).the concentration of n–3 pufa especially dha and also n-3 / n-6 pufa ratios were higher in pl fed with artemia enriched with the commercial emulsions than the control group. feeding enriched artemia with n–3 lc-pufa is recommended to improve growth performance in larval stages of l. vannamei.