THE EVALUATION OF FUNCTIONAL FEED ADDITIVES IN COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS WITH THE PACIFIC WHITE LEG Litopenaeaus vannamei

This scientific work explores a selection of bioactive natural agents that can be used in shrimp diets to mitigate the threat of disease and confer a more resilient shrimp bespoke to Mexico and the wider Latin America community. As such, three distinct areas were addressed namely the potential of functional feed additives for shrimp with favourable results.

A functional feed additive was evaluated as a growth promoting and immune stimulating agent for shrimp, all studies were conducted on juvenile shrimp in cages within an open system environment under high density > 80 pl/m with fluctuating, oxygen, temperature, salinity and photoperiod.

Biometric parameters included growth rate and feed conversion efficiency as well as several indices the intestinal tract with emphasis on gut morphology and integrity. In addition, a primary focus was to ascertain the effect of the functional feed additives on the gut microbiome associated with their potential modulatory capacity under commercial conditions.

The findings confirmed that  FFA combinations could enhance growth and survival of juvenile shrimp and also increase survivability being a key attribute. For 0.5%, 1% inclusion gave excellent improvements in growth and survival .  These trials also showed that there was a marked shift in the microbial enteric community with effects on phyla but more pronounced at the genera taxonomic level.

The thesis discusses these aspects for securing a more efficient shrimp production industry with a cost benefit  assessment for economic appraisal of using function feed additives in this important aquaculture sector.