Author(s)

Elsah Arce Uribe^1*, Marco Polo Franco Archundia², Jorge Luna-Figueroa¹

¹Laboratorio de Acuicultura, Departamento de Hidrobiología, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.
²Maestría en Manejo de Recursos Naturales, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.

Colour production in fish is due mostly to food. In conditions of captivity, the type of food is restricted, while various types of food are used in aquaculture, from processed dry food to small aquatic animals. In this study, we used nauplii of Artemia franciscana, “water fleas” Moina wierzejski, micro-worm Panagrellus redivivus, and commercial flakes. We used Poecilia reticulata, which is one of the most traded fish in ornamental aquaculture and hypothesise that if the live food influences the coloration and growth of P. reticulata, there must be differences in the intensity of colour pattern and growth rate in fish fed with different living animals. Consistent with our prediction, females and males of P. reticulata were more colourful when they were fed on A. franciscana, P. redivivus and M. wierzejski than when they were fed commercial flakes. Females and males of P. reticulata fed with A. franciscana grew in less time than fish fed with P. redivivus, M. wierzejski, or commercial flakes. We conclude that live food is an excellent way to affect growth and coloration in fish.

Coloration, growth rate, Artemia franciscana, Moina wierzejski, Panagrellus redivivus

Arce Uribe, E. , Franco Archundia, M. and Luna-Figueroa, J. (2018) The Effect of Live Food on the Coloration and Growth in Guppy Fish, Poecilia reticulata. Agricultural Sciences, 9, 171-179. doi: 10.4236/as.2018.92013.