Scientific paper on Clownfish rearing

[Six]

Hi all,

 

I have the ability to get scientific papers through my affiliation with academia. I am also a firm believer in open access to scientific discovery and research, especially when a hobbyist can apply what they learn there better than many scientists! I'm going to try to post papers in the forums that I think will be of interest to the fishy community.

 

This one talks about the effect of live food (bbs) and its transition time on Clarkii clownfish larvae. If you're interested, check out the link and read the abstract. If you're still interested, let me know via PM and I'll send you the PDF.

 

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10499-016-9982-3

 

Please note: I'm doing this because I think y'all make a difference and push the boundaries of what we know about fish. Out of respect, I'd prefer that you keep this rather on the down low as it is contentious to share these articles as they require "regular" people to pay something like $30 to download! Science is a democratic activity so this is a stand I'm making. If you disagree with me, please let me know and I will cease. I'd rather be yelled at than fined/worse.

 

Thanks,

6

 

 

[wow.such.chris]

Interesting article. It would have been even more interesting to see what would happen if they added nauplii at day zero along with rotifers. I wouldn't be surprised to see an even quicker increase in weight/length gain. Although nauplii are generally seen as too large for 0-1 dph fish I'd bet that there are some outlying small nauplii and clownfish with exceptionally large gapes for their age that could really take advantage of this.

 

I wonder what the cost to benefit is of this as well since I know that in many cases the cost of brine shrimp cysts is often the most expensive aspects of rearing larval fish. Maybe we would benefit from delaying nauplii feedings since it really is just a difference in size, not mortality. But then the question is how much longer they would have to be raised to get them up to market-size and if that initial savings in nauplii justifies the extended feeding period.