Progress on larval and juvenile nutrition to improve the quality and health of seawater fish: a review

In seedling production of seawater fish, providing appropriate nutrition is a necessity for successful production of quality larvae and juveniles. Mass-produced live prey organisms, such as the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis species complex and brine shrimp Artemia spp., alone do not provide sufficient nutrition to the larvae and juveniles of seawater animals. This inadequacy has led to various problems related to fish quality and health, including increased incidence of morphological and behavioral abnormalities and mass mortalities. It is, therefore, important to identify the factors associated with these problems to improve seedling production techniques. This review collates the efforts made during the past two decades in larval nutrition-focusing on advances made in the use of certain nutrients, such as docosahexaenoic acid, vitamin A derivatives, and taurine that are important for the mass production of seawater fish larvae and juveniles-with an aim to improve the quality and health of fish.