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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Auburn, Alabama » Aquatic Animal Health Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #425160
Research Project: Reducing On-Farm Losses to Disease in Crustacean Aquaculture

Location: Aquatic Animal Health Research

Title: Effects of probiotic addition to culture water on growth, water quality, and disease resistance against Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection in Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei raised in static biofloc systems

Author
item BAJRACHARYA, SHRIJAN - Auburn University
item APPUHAMI, ISHINI - Auburn University
item BRUCE, TIMOTHY - Auburn University
item ROY, LUKE - Auburn University
item Garcia, Julio

Submitted to: Aquaculture
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/6/2025
Publication Date: 3/6/2025
Citation: Bajracharya, S., Appuhami, I.A., Bruce, T.J., Roy, L.A., Garcia, J.C. 2025. Effects of probiotic addition to culture water on growth, water quality, and disease resistance against Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection in Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei raised in static biofloc systems. Aquaculture [ABSTRACT]. Aquaculture 2025, New Orleans, Louisiana, March 6-10, 2025.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Probiotics are increasingly used in aquaculture to enhance growth, improve water quality, and boost disease resistance in farmed aquaculture species. This study investigated the application of different concentrations of the commercial probiotic added to culture water (via a pelleted product) to evaluate the effects on growth performance, water quality, and resistance to Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection. 1 gram of this commercial pelleted probiotic contains >4 billion colony-forming units of naturally occurring bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis, etc. The pathogen V. parahaemolyticus is the causative agent of acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), which has devastated shrimp farms due to its rapid onset and high mortality rates. Over a nine-week trial, shrimp (1.20 ± 0.01 g; stocked at 160 shrimp/m³) were reared in static biofloc culture systems consisting of 24-156L circular black polyethylene tanks. The shrimp were subjected to various probiotic concentrations weekly (x0, x4, x8, and x16 of the recommended dose, i.e., 500 pellets per 100 kg of feed) as four treatments. Each treatment had six replicate tanks. All shrimp were provided a commercial diet (Zeigler Shrimp Grower SI-35, CP 35%) four times per day via hand feeding.