Sains Malaysiana 41(10)(2012): 1193–1196

 

Light Intensity Requirements for Feeding Behavior by the Brown-marbled Grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus

(Keperluan Keamatan Cahaya untuk Perlakuan Pemakanan Ikan Kerapu Harimau, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus)

 

Yukinori Mukai^1,*, Leong Seng Lim², Kien Chee Lu³, Mohamed Kamil Abdul Rashid¹ & Shahbudin Saad¹

 

¹Institute of Oceanography and Maritime Studies (INOCEM), Kulliyyah of Science

International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah

Bandar Indera Mahkota, 25200, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia

 

²Borneo Marine Research Institute, Universiti Malaysia Sabah

88400, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

 

³Seed Production Center, 177 Tanjung Badak, 89208, Tuatan, Sabah, Malaysia

 

Received: 10 November 2011 / Accepted: 19 June 2012

 

ABSTRACT

In this study, we investigated the feeding behavior of the brown-marbled grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus with light intensities ranging over eight orders of magnitude from 0–1000 lx to estimate the optimum light intensity for larval rearing. Artemia ingestion rates of E. fuscoguttatus of 36 days and 42 days old larvae were measured in feeding behavior experiments and they were significantly higher with light intensities ≥10 lx compared with feeding rates at ≤1 lx. E. fuscoguttatus larvae also exhibited Artemia ingestion rates in the dark or in dim lighting (0–1 lx) that were about 20% of the ingestion rates with ≥10 lx.

 

Keywords: Brown-marbled grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus; feeding behavior; ingestion rates; Visual thresholds

 

ABSTRAK

Dalam kajian ini kami telah menyelidik tabiat pemakanan ikan kerapu harimau, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus dengan keamatan cahaya berjulat lebih daripada lapan tingkat magnitud daripada 0 – 1000 lx bagi menentukan keamatan cahaya yang optimum untuk ternakan larva ikan. Kadar pengambilanArtemia oleh larva E. fuscoguttatus pada umur 36 hari dan 42 hari diukur dalam uji kaji tabiat permakanan dan didapati tinggi bersignifikan dengan keamatan cahaya ≥ 10 lx jika dibandingkan dengan kadar pemakanan pada ≤ 1 lx. Sebaliknya, larva ikan memperlihatkan kadar pengambilan Artemia dalam keadaan gelap atau cahaya samar (0 – 1 lx) sebanyak 20% daripada kadar pengambilan dengan ≥ 10 lx.

 

Kata kunci: Epinephelus fuscoguttatus; kadar pengambilan; kerapu harimau; tabiat permakanan; tahap penglihatan

REFERENCES

Blaxter, J.H.S. 1968a. Visual thresholds and spectral sensitivity of herring larvae. The Journal of Experimental Biology 48: 39-53.

Blaxter, J.H.S. 1968b. Light intensity, vision and feeding in young plaice. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 2: 293-307.

Blaxter, J.H.S. & Jones, P.M. 1967. The development of the retina and retinomotor responses in the herring. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 47: 677-697.

Blaxter, J.H.S. & Staines, M. 1970. Pure-cone retinae and retinomotor responses in larval teleosts. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 50: 449-460.

Boeuf, G. & Bail, P.L. 1999. Does light have an influence on fish growth? Aquaculture 177: 129-152.

Cornish, A. 2004. Epinephelus fuscoguttatus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (version 2011.1). http://www.iucnredlist.org [08 October 2011].

Heemstra, P.C. & Randall, J.E. 1993. FAO Species Catalogue Volume 16. Groupers of the World. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.

Kawamura, G. 1979. Fundamental study on application of the vision of spotted mackerel, Pneumatophorus tapeinocephalus (Bleeker), to angling techniques-III. Bulletin of the Japanese Society of Scientific Fisheries 45: 553-555.

Lim, L.C., Chao, T.M. & Khoo, L.T. 1990. Observation on the breeding of brown- marbled grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus (Forskal). Singapore Journal of Primary Industries 18: 66-84.

Masuma, S., Kawamura, G., Tezuka, N., Kosho, M. & Namba, K. 2001. Retinomotor responses of juvenile bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus. Fisheries Science 67: 228-231.

Mukai, Y. 2006. Role of free neuromasts in larval feeding of willow shiner Gnathopogon elongatus caerulescens Teleostei, Cyprinidae. Fisheries Science 72: 705-709.

Mukai, Y. 2011. Remarkably high survival rates under dim light conditions in sutchi catfish Pangasianodon hypophthalmus larvae. Fisheries Science 77: 107-111.

Mukai, Y., Yoshikawa, H. & Kobayashi, H. 1994. The relationship between the length of the cupulae of free neuromasts and feeding ability in larvae of the willow shiner Gnathopogon elongatus caerulescens (Teleostei, Cyprinidae). The Journal of Experimental Biology 197: 399-403.

Mukai, Y., Tuzan, A.D., Lim, L.S. & Yahaya, S. 2010. Feeding behavior under dark conditions in larvae of sutchi catfish Pangasianodon hypophthalmus. Fisheries Science 76: 457-461.

Mukai, Y. & Lim, L.S. 2012. Visual threshold for feeding behavior and optimum light intensity for larval rearing of Asian seabass, Lates calcarifer (Block). Aquaculture Research. (Accepted).

Mukai, Y., Leong Seng Lim, L. S. & Shahbudin, S. 2012. Retinomotor response in forsskal larvae of brown-marbled grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus. Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 7: 233-239.

Neave, D.A. 1984. The development of the retinomotor reactions in larval plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.) and turbot (Scophthalmus maximus L.). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 76: 167-175.

Yoseda, K., Yamamoto, K., Asami, K., Chimura, M., Hashimoto, K. & Koaka, S. 2008. Influence of light intensity on feeding, growth and early survival of leopard coral grouper (Plectropomus leopardus) larvae under mass-scale rearing conditions. Aquaculture 279: 55-62.

 

*Corresponding author; email: mukai9166@gamil.com