Tissue content, fecundity and quality of eggs and phyllosoma larvae after supplementing the diet of spiny lobster, Jasus edwardsii, broodstock with ascorbic acid-enriched Artemia biomass

Ascorbic acid (AA)-enriched Artemia in alginate pellets and unenriched pellets were fed to Jasus edwardsii broodstock to supplement AA intake of the basal diet (mussels, squid and compound prawn pellets) during ovarian development before egg extrusion. Pellet AA content ranged from 150 μg g -1 (unenriched) to 9153 μg g-1 (enriched). The basal diet (150 μg AA g-1) was compared with low (150 μg AA g -1), medium (450 μg AA g-1) and high (1350 μg AA g-1) AA supplementation. Dietary AA content was obtained using combinations of unenriched and AA-enriched Artemia in combination with the basal diet. Supplementation resulted in ovarian AA saturation at ∼240 μg g-1, a significant increase over 152 μg g-1 at time 0. Digestive gland concentrations were 76-92 μg AA g-1 for diets containing ≤450 μg AA g-1, but reached 270 μg AA g -1 for the high supplement. The considerable AA store in tail muscle appeared to be translocated to the ovary during maturation. There was no significant AA depletion in eggs during embryogenesis suggesting minimal AA utilization during this phase. Jasus edwardsii spawns once annually, unlike other multiple spawning crustaceans. Therefore, AA supplementation did not alter fecundity or phyllosoma quality, but resulted in a dose-dependent increase (up to 33%) in AA content of eggs and phyllosoma. © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.