Abstract

ROJO-CEBREROS, AH et al. Energy budget of the rotifer Brachionus rotundiformis Tschugunof 1921, fed four species of microalgae. Universidad y ciencia [online]. 2012, vol.28, n.3, pp.231-244. ISSN 0186-2979.

The energy budget was estimated for the rotifer Brachionus rotundiformis fed the microalgae Nannochloropsis spp. (Nano), Chaetoceros muelleri (Cham), Isochysis spp. (Iso) and Phaeodactylum tricornutum (Phat) at 29 °C and 35 ups. Nano and Iso are frequent diets in the culture of B. rotundiformis. Cham and Phat were included in order to evaluate them as possible alternative diets for the culture of this species. Based on the equation P = A − (R+U), with mJ rot⁻¹ h⁻¹ as the energy unit, the energy budget of B. rotundiformis fed the four diets may be summarized as follows: Nano: P = 0.67 − (0.05 + 8.48×10⁻⁵⁾= 0.62, Iso: P = 0.76 − (0.06 + 8.33×10⁻⁵)= 0.61, Cham: P = 0.41 − (0.07 + 2.94×10⁻⁵)= 0.33 and Phat: P = 0.72 − (0.06 + 12.05×10⁻⁵)= 0.65. The results indicate that growth (P) was different (p < 0.05), with higher values and of equal magnitude for the microalgae Nano, Iso and Phat, whereas for Cham, the growth calculation was approximately 50 % smaller than that for the other diets. The results of this study confirm the importance of Nano and Iso as the best diets to maintain stable rotifer cultures. Nevertheless, the positive energy budgets obtained with Cham and Phat, greater for the latter, indicate that both microalgae may be used in the massive culture of the rotifer B. rotundiformis.

Keywords : Chaetoceros muelleri; energy budget; Isochrysis spp.; Nannochloropsis spp.; Phaeodactylum tricornutum; rotifer.

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