Quebec mariculturists are dealing with a universal claim: the diversity of the species cultivated. One choice would be the produce and assessment of marine worms (polychaete annelids nereids), a process developing in other states. Although the management and gain potential remains to be established for Quebec, the establishment of a new production that matches one or more commercial needs is an original and promising avenue to explore. It was envisaged that the development of marine worms could answer to four industrial issues: check the breeding potential, improve the fish feed, reduce the waste managment in saltwater production and produce molecules of interest. for nutraceuticals and therapeutics. The research project thus desires to demonstrate the capacity of a development of marine worms and its assimilation into the field of marine productions.
The samples were dominated by two species of nereids: Allitta virens and Hediste diversicolor. The latter having the greatest biomass harvested; it was then selected for the suit of the experiment. The individus were measured and weighed (avg. 0.3 g) and thus confined in tanks with sterilized natural sediment maintained at 16 ° C and a continuous seawater flow (29.5 ppt) of 2.0 L / min. Two types of feed were tested, TetraMin®, and fish rejects from the produce of spotted wolves (Anarhichas minor) in Merinov.
The 33-day experiment was carried out based on four tanks per analysis and the feeding rate adopted was 4% of individual weight / day. Overall, remarkably great survival rates were noted during the experiment, with an average rate of 96%, all methods combined. To fatten, the batches fed with TetraMin® showed much stronger results than those fed with fish debris, with on average conversion rates of 0.9 and 3.0 and weight increases of 20.3 and 6.3 g respectively. With the TetraMin®, the worms fed actively in the subsurface as soon as the flakes landed on the substrate. As for the feeding behavior of worms fed on fish waste, a significant drop in movement was noticed. Chemically, the diet seems to affect the percentage of fat in worms. Regarding proteins, a percentage of about 50% is observed, which makes worms an ingredient of choice in the feed preparation. Finally, H. diversicolor appears to be the species with the best returns in terms of growth, nutritional levels and pharmaceutical interest. It is then admirably fit for further in-depth investigations to be published.