The Feeding Method of the Paste Feed for Glass Eel As the Early Stage Feed of White Sturgeon

In 2011 The Miyazaki Prefectural Fisheries Research Institute examined a new paste feed substitute for Artemia when feeding white sturgeon larvae and confirmed its effectiveness. However the best feeding method was not clear, so we conducted a feeding test to find the best feeding method. A 19-days feeding test was conducted in 2012 using 28,000 larvae (12 days post-hatch) . Three groups of larvae were evaluated;  Group1 were fed both paste feed and dry feed from the first feeding, Group 2 were fed only paste feed after 3 days from the first feeding, and Group 3 were fed only paste feed after 10 days from the first feeding. At the end of the feeding trial, the survival rate of the white sturgeon was 80.6%, 76.2%, and 73.9% for Groups 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Final average weight were 0.23g (Group 1), 0.21g (Group 2), and 0.13g (Group 3). Final average weights of Group 1 and Group 2 were significantly heavier than Group 3, those fed only paste feed after 10 days (t-test , p<0.01). The results suggest that the best feeding method using paste feed was feeding with dry feed from first feeding then changing to only dry feed as soon as possible.