الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 99 |  |  |
| | | from | 99 | | |
Abstract
The present study was carried out to study the possibility of early weaning of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) larvae. Therefore seabream larvae divided into different groups and weaned at 35, 40, 45, 50, 55and 60 days post-hatching (dph). At the end of the experiment the mean wet weight and length of gilthead seabream were recorded for larvae after 45 dph showed that the late weaning (50, 55or 60 dph) significantly increased the wet weight and length of larvae compared to larvae groups that early weaned (35 and 40 dph) and the same trend was also observed for larvae after 60 dph. During the entire experimental period, the highest SGR values were recorded for groups 60 and 50 dph (3.75 and 3.19), while the lowest SGR recorded for group 40 dph (1.51) indicating that, the late weaning age released the best SGR compared to the early weaning of gilthead seabream larvae. The obtained results indicated that the late weaning of larvae (60 dph) significantly increased each of protein and fat content of larvae when compared to the early weaning of larvae (35 dph).
In conclusion, early weaning of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) larvae gradually onto a dry diet from Artemia significantly reduced growth and survival rate of the larvae, and did not lead to good larval acceptance of the dry diet, compared to those weaned from Artemia.
Key Words :
Seabream, replacement, live food, larvae production, growth performance, feed utilization, body composition.