Killifish is a generic term for all oviparous fish species within the order Cyprinodontiformes. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of water salinity and different feeding strategies on the growth performance and survival of the killifish species Hypsolebias flagellatus juveniles.
A total of 240 juveniles (0.096±0.005 g), were used. The experiment was designed in two salinities (no salt and 2 g of salt/L), three feeding strategies (artemia-A, artemia + commercial diet-ACD, and commercial diet-CD), four replicates for 30 days. In the “A” treatment, the fish were fed with Artemia nauplii. In the “ACD” treatment, the fish were fed with Artemia nauplii for 7 days, with a gradual transition to commercial diet. For the remaining 23 days, they were fed exclusively commercial diet. In the “CD” treatment, the juveniles were fed only commercial feed. The fish were kept in 2 L aquariums, at a density of 5 fish/L. Biometric measurements were taken at 15 and 30 days. No interaction was found between salinity and feeding strategies in 15 days and salinity did not affect the parameters. Regarding feeding strategies, average weight (W) at 15 and 30 days, weight gain (WG 1-15 and WG 15-30), specific growth rate (SGR 1-15 and 15-30), and length (L) at 15 days were all highest in the "A" treatment. However, the L at 30 days was highest in the "A" treatment. Survival (Surv.) was not affected by the feeding strategies. Interaction was found between salinity and the different feeding strategies in 30 days (Table 2). In the 0-salinity, treatment "A" and "ACD" exhibited the highest survival rates. The use of Artemia as feed at this stage for this species is recommended for better growth performance, regardless of the use of salinity in the cultivation tank. In conclusion, are recommend the use of artemia and 0 salinity, whereas artemia + commercial feeding and just commercial feeding at salinity of 2 g/L.