A preliminary study on fish bait of juvenile Chinese horseshoe crab under artificial culture

In this study, nereis, Philippine clam meat, prawn meat, mixture of prawn meat and kelp, kelp and Artermia neonate were used as fish baits to feed second-instar juvenile Chinese horseshoe crab. The results showed that the survival rate was highest, showing 71.43% when fed by Artermia neonate while the survival rates of other treatments were less than 20%. Twelve second-instar juvenile Chinese horseshoe crabs moult and grown into third-instar ones when fed by Artermia neonate, no moult occurred in other treatments; and wet weight and cephalothorax width became increased significantly when Artermia neonate was fed. Wet weight increased slightly and cephalothorax width showed no significant change in other treatments. Therefore, Artermia neonate could be a suitable fish bait for second-instar juvenile Chinese horseshoe crab.