Effects of different diet combinations on the growth and survival of juvenile black abalone

A 35-day growth experiment was conducted to assess the effects of five different diet combinations on the survival and growth of juvenile black abalone. The four diets tested were: red algae Gracilaria tenuistipitata（G）, the green algae Ulva faxciata（U）, and Enteromorpha intesinalis（E）, and formulated diet. Three different combinations of diets (U+E+G, U+G, E+G) and two single diets (G and FD) were designed to investigate their effect on the growth and survival of black abalone. The five combinations were randomly assigned to 5 groups, each had three replicate. The results of the experiment showed that there was no significant difference of the survival rate (P0.05) under the five diet treatments. The differences of the special growth rate (SGR), wet weight growth rate (WGRw), dry weight growth rate (WGRd) and shell length growth rate (LGR) were significant (P0.05) under the five diets treatments. Juvenile black abalone in FD treatment supported the highest SGR and WGRd, however, juvenile black abalone in G+E treatment had the highest LGR and WGRw. The food conversion efficiency (FCE) had significant differences among the juvenile black abalone under the five diets treatments (P0.05). The results indicated that E+G as well as formulated diet were the best diets for the cultured juvenile black abalone, and could reply the formulated diet at the high temperature water.