Efficiency of co-feeding red porgy (Pagrus pagrus L.) larvae with live and compound diet

The red porgy (Pagrus pagrus) is an important commercial and recreational species with very good prospect for aquaculture. Because significant mortalities, the mass production of this species is limited. This paper describes three weaning strategies to investigate their effects on the survival and growth of red porgy larvae reared in laboratory: A) traditional three-step weaning (rotifers - Artemia - diet) (control); B) one-step early weaning by co-feeding (rotifers -Artemia + diet), and C) one-step direct early weaning (rotifers - diet). Sigificative differences were recorded among treatments (P< 0.05). Best survival rate (45.6 ± 7.6%) and growth (7.4 ± 0.5 mm) were found in treatment B. Results indicate that co-feeding red porgy larvae with inert and live diets from day 20 after hatching is a promising weaning strategy in the hatchery of this species.