Reproductive performance, lipids and fatty acids of mud crab Scylla serrata (Forsskål) fed dietary lipid levels

Natural food (NF, control), artificial diets (AD) containing total lipid levels of 10%, 12% and 14% (AD10, AD12 and AD14) and their combinations (AD10+NF, AD12+NF and AD14+NF) were fed for 112 days to pond-sourced eyestalk-ablated mud crab Scylla serrata (625±6.4 g) in tanks in order to determine their effects on reproduction and lipid profiles in broodstock tissues and zoeae. Crabs fed NF had the highest number of spawning followed by crabs fed AD10+NF and AD14+NF. Higher offspring production (number of zoeae) was obtained from crabs fed NF and AD+NF than from AD. As dietary total lipid levels increased, total lipid of broodstock ovaries, hepatopancreas, muscle and zoeae correspondingly increased in which AD+NF promoted higher levels than AD. Increased dietary total lipid levels enhanced lipid classes such as triacylglycerols and phosphatidyl choline levels in zoeae, all higher in crabs fed AD+NF than in AD. The major fatty acids in zoeae, particularly 16:0, 18:0, 18:1n-9 and 20:4n-6, 20:5n-3 and 22:6n-3, were higher in crabs fed AD+NF than in AD, the contents corresponding to broodstock dietary total lipid levels. A 10% total lipid in AD in combination with NF was sufficient to provide the essential lipids in crabs in the improvement of larval production and quality.