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Fishes
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Zooplankton Production Applied to Aquaculture
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Zooplankton Production Applied to Aquaculture

A special issue of Fishes (ISSN 2410-3888). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Aquaculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2026 | Viewed by 1735

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Ricardo Vieira Rodrigues

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Oceanography, Federal University of Rio Grande—FURG, Rio Grande 96210-030, Brazil
Interests: zooplankton production; larviculture; marine fish production

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Zooplankton are essential for the success of aquatic organism larviculture. In recent decades, the improvement in production technologies for zooplankton species widely used in larviculture, the search for new species with potential for mass production, and protocols and new substances for zooplankton enrichment and their effects on aquatic organism larviculture have been studied to improve the larviculture of different species of aquatic organisms. 

This Special Issue is dedicated to publishing original research articles and reviews related to zooplankton production and its application in the larviculture of aquatic organisms. The scope of this Special Issue includes improvements in the methodologies and protocols of production of widely produced species (such as rotifer, artemia, and copepods), new species of zooplankton with potential for aquaculture, and advances in enrichment protocols and applications of zooplankton during the larviculture of aquatic organisms.  

Prof. Dr. Ricardo Vieira Rodrigues
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fishes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • rotifer
  • artemia
  • copepods
  • cladocera
  • zooplankton mass production
  • zooplankton enrichment
  • larviculture
  • biofloc
  • weaning protocols

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2550 KB  
Article
Food Restriction and Thermal Stress as Independent Inducers of Sexual Reproduction and Ephippia Production in Daphnia magna
by Paola Andrea Alméciga-Díaz and Ricardo Vieira Rodrigues
Fishes 2026, 11(3), 189; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes11030189 - 21 Mar 2026
Viewed by 355
Abstract
Daphnia magna exhibits reproductive plasticity, alternating between parthenogenesis and sexual reproduction with ephippia (resting eggs) formation under stressful conditions. This study evaluated food restriction or thermal stress as independent inducing factors of ephippia in two consecutive 60-day trials (one per treatment) under controlled [...] Read more.
Daphnia magna exhibits reproductive plasticity, alternating between parthenogenesis and sexual reproduction with ephippia (resting eggs) formation under stressful conditions. This study evaluated food restriction or thermal stress as independent inducing factors of ephippia in two consecutive 60-day trials (one per treatment) under controlled conditions. In Trial I, neonates were fed Arthrospira platensis at 20 (control), 10 (moderate), or 0.5 (severe) mg L−1 day−1. In Trial II, neonates were maintained at 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 °C with optimal feeding. Control food levels and temperatures of 20 °C promoted exclusive parthenogenesis, yielding up to 13,170 ± 515 neonates on treatment fed with 20 mg L−1 of A. platensis day−1. Conversely, severe restriction (0.5 mg L−1 day−1) suppressed asexual reproduction by 99.3% and maximized ephippia production (726 ± 10) over 60 days. Thermal extremes (10 and 30 °C) also induced ephippia formation, peaking at 30 °C (85 ± 7). Ephippia quality was stress-dependent: moderate restriction (10 mg L−1 day−1) yielded the highest proportion of twin-egg ephippia (82.3%) and hatching success (82%), whereas severe food restriction or high temperature (30 °C) increased quantity but reduced the viability of ephippia. These findings suggest independent thresholds for inducing sexual reproduction in D. magna. The study provides a standardized protocol for ephippia production with applications in aquaculture, ecotoxicology, and conservation purposes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zooplankton Production Applied to Aquaculture)
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15 pages, 1168 KB  
Article
Disinfection Strategies for Euplotes spp. Control in Marine Copepod Cultures
by Maribeth Wichterman, Grace McCranie, Chase Taylor, Olivia Markham, Brittney Lacy, Matthew DiMaggio and Casey Murray
Fishes 2026, 11(2), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes11020091 - 2 Feb 2026
Viewed by 868
Abstract
Marine copepods are an essential live feed for the culture of many marine ornamental fish and other finfish species, yet their production is frequently constrained by contamination from free-living ciliates. To address this challenge, the efficacy of three disinfectants (sodium hypochlorite, iodine, and [...] Read more.
Marine copepods are an essential live feed for the culture of many marine ornamental fish and other finfish species, yet their production is frequently constrained by contamination from free-living ciliates. To address this challenge, the efficacy of three disinfectants (sodium hypochlorite, iodine, and hydrogen peroxide) was evaluated for ciliate removal in cultures of two copepod species, Parvocalanus crassirostris and Oithona colcarva. Appropriate ranges of disinfectant concentrations and exposure durations were identified through a preliminary trial assessing the toxicity to Euplotes spp. over a 5-min period. Subsequent experiments tested three doses of each disinfectant to quantify ciliate removal success and egg hatch rates for each copepod species. Ciliate presence/absence showed no variation (100% in controls, 0% after disinfection), precluding statistical analysis except for one variable iodine trial, which was analyzed using Fisher’s Exact Test. Hatch and recovery rates were analyzed using binomial GLMMs with treatment as a fixed effect and replicate as a random effect, with Tukey-adjusted pairwise comparisons and α = 0.05. Sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen peroxide consistently removed all ciliates across tested concentrations, whereas iodine only achieved complete removal at the highest dose. The effects on hatch rate differed between species, with hydrogen peroxide producing the highest hatch rates in P. crassirostris (approximately 44 to 46% at 50–100 g/L for one minute) and sodium hypochlorite supporting the highest hatch in O. colcarva (up to 92% at 250 mg/L for one minute). These findings demonstrate that disinfectant performance is species-specific and that species-specific disinfection protocols are warranted to improve the reliability of copepod production in marine aquaculture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zooplankton Production Applied to Aquaculture)
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