Biodiversity in eastern Mediterranean marine aquaculture: an approach to new species.

Aquaculture is an important agro-food activity to ensure the amount of EPA and DHA indicated by WOS for human health, on the top of precious proteins. In spite that in the Mediterranean area only few marine species (sea bass and sea bream) cover the 92.4% of the market, an increased biodiversity in the production would improve the nutritional quality, as well as the resource for the market and the possibility to better exploit natural resources. This research work is focused on the evaluation of biological and physiological functions of new species, such as rabbitfish (Siganus rivulatus) and common pandora (Pagellus erythrinus), in respect to their capacity for aquaculture production. Morphometric measurements on wild rabbitfish revealed that the TL-TW relationship is described by the equation y=0.068x+11.044. Condition factor (K) was 1.65±0.17, HSI was 1.4±0.4 and GSI was found to reach maximum values near the full moon during summer months. Respirometry on individual cultured rabbitfish was measured at 17, 20, 23 and 26°C. Oxygen consumption rate increased with water temperature and it was varied between 2.4×10-3 mg O2/g BW/min at 17°C and 1.1×10-2 mg O2/g BW/min at 26°C. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1a, which responds to changes in available oxygen in the cellular environment, was identified in brain and liver samples. Growth experiment on rabbitfish that lasted for 1 year and tested two feeds with different protein content, 35 and 44%, showed no significant difference between the two treatments. Experiment on the effect of vitamin C and astaxanthin on the reproduction performance and quality of eggs and larvae in common pandora, showed that vitamin C improves the reproductive capacity of broodstock and the quality of offsprings.