INCIDENCIA DEL SÍNDROME DE MUERTE EN LA MUDA EN LARVAS DE CENTOLLO, MAJA BRACHYDACTYLA, ALIMENTADAS CON DIETAS ARTIFICIALES.

Recent studies on larval rearing of the spider crab, M. brachydactyla have revealed cases of molt death syndrome (MDS) associated with the introduction of artificial microbound diets (AMD). In order to assess the MDS prevalence, ten different food treatments, including 8 AMD formulated with diverse lecithin (lec): cholesterol (col) ratios, and both, an Artemia fed and starved controls, were tested during individual culture of the second larval stage (zoea II) of the spider crab. Artificial diets were formulated as follows: BASE4LEC= 4lec: 1col; BASE3COL= 2lec: 3col; HUEVO2LEC= 2lec: 3col with egg yolk; BASE= 2lec: 1col; BASE6LEC= 6lec: 1col; BASE5COL= 2lec: 5col; BASBASEECD= BASE + ecdysone; BASE0LEC= 0lec: 1col. The diet containing the highest amount of lecithin (BASE4LEC) achieved the highest survival rate to M (29.2%) whereas the diet with no lecithin (BASE0LEC) the lowest (1.4%) among all the AMD tested. In general, a high MDS prevalence (>40%) was observed in all AMD, despite the differences in lec/col ratios used. Results confirm that the lack of lecithin produces serious molt problems in M. brachydactyla larvae; however, more research is needed to reduce MDS prevalence during AMD feeding.