Fatty acid profile, proteolytic activity and survival of Octopus bimaculatus paralarvae fed with enriched Artemia franciscana

Octopus bimaculatus is an economically important food resource and a potential candidate for aquaculture diversification in the Pacific coast of Mexico; knowledge of its nutritional requirements is nil. For this reason, the composition of fatty acids of the newly hatched paralarvae was determined, as a criterion to define their requirements for essential fatty acids. We also evaluated the nutritional effect of live Anemia franciscana (8.2 +/- 1.20 mm total length) enriched with tuna orbit oil (the TOO group) on the proteolytic activity and survival of the O. bimaculatus paralarvae in one experiment. The experimental cultivation of paralarvae fed with the TOO group was ended 17 days after hatching (DAH) with a survival of 1.93% and an increase of suckers per arm from five at hatching to nine, while those fed with the non-enriched A. franciscana (the control group) finished with only six suckers at 11 DAH and a 1.77% survival. Acid and alkaline proteolytic activity was detected at hatching, which increased in accordance with the age of the paralarvae. The TOO group had a significant influence on acid proteolytic activity of the paralarvae only at eight DAH; however, the final survival rate obtained in this treatment was slightly higher compared with those fed with the control group.