Use of Artemia supplemented with exogenous digestive enzymes as sole live food increased survival and growth during the larviculture of the longsnout seahorse Hippocampus reidi

This study evaluated the effect of exogenous digestive enzymes on the survival, growth performance and morphology of the digestive tract of juveniles of the longsnout seahorse Hippocampus reidi fed exclusively with Artemia and supplemented with five different concentrations of porcine pancreatin (PP) (0, 5, 25, 50 and 75 mg/L from birth until 30 days after release). The results found in the present study clearly show that there was a significant increase in survival and growth as well as substantial changes in the morphology of intestinal villi in seahorses fed exclusively with Artemia supplemented with 75 mg/L PP. Therefore, the use of digestive enzyme supplementation constitutes an important advance for the establishment of a more efficient and practical feeding protocol (exclusive use of Artemia) for juveniles of the longsnout seahorse.