Effects of intermittent starvation on the survival, growth, and nutritional status of the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium borellii Nobili, 1896 (Decapoda: Caridea: Palaemonidae)

STUMPF, LIANE; LÓPEZ GRECO, LAURA; BATTISTA, ARIADNA; BATTISTA, ARIADNA; TIMPANARO, SANTIAGO; TIMPANARO, SANTIAGO; STUMPF, LIANE; LÓPEZ GRECO, LAURA

JOURNAL OF CRUSTACEAN BIOLOGY

CRUSTACEAN SOC

Lugar: Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Año: 2020

0278-0372

We examined the effect of the double restriction-recovery cycle on survival, growth, andnutritional status of the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium borellii (Nobili, 1896), native tofloodplain rivers of Argentina. The restriction period consisted of intermittent starvation (alternatingfour-day feeding with no feeding for four days) and a recovery period of continuousfeeding following the restriction period. Survival was high over a 20-week trial with cycles offood scarcity. Prawns showed a slight impact on their growth throughout the entire first cycleof restriction-recovery; however, compensatory growth was not triggered. The reduction ofgrowth was markedly more drastic after the second restriction period, but compensatorygrowth was not exhibited when the second recovery period was reestablished. Any possibleimpact of the double cycle of intermittent starvation on energy reserves and structure ofthe hepatopancreas was compensated by a posterior cycle of continuous feeding. The resultsdemonstrated that M. borelli can successfully support long-term food scarcity throughout thejuvenile and adult phases, at least intermittently and followed by a recovery period. The highnutritional flexibility is an adaptation to fluctuations in food availability and an advantage forsuccessful ornamental aquaculture.