ASSESSMENT OF THE MILLETSEED BUTTERFLYFISH, Chaetodon miliaris, AS A MODEL SPECIES FOR MARINE ORNAMENTAL AQUACULTURE AND AN EVALUATION OF EARLY CULTURE PARAMETERS By JON-MICHAEL DEGIDIO A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2014 © 2014 Jon-Michael Degidio To all those who have supported my journey ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my mother, Deborah Barone, and father, Michael Degidio, for their unconditional love and support. Their teachings have guided me to be the man I am today. I would like to thank Paige Miller for her patience, support, love, and reminding me that life is can always be fun. Also, thank you to my sister, Nicole Barone, and her three daughters for their love and support. I would like to acknowledge my major professor, Roy Yanong, for his experience, guidance, and confidence in my abilities to perform my duties. I would also like to acknowledge my committee members, Cortney Ohs and Craig Watson, for their guidance and expertise in the aquaculture industry. Thank you to Eric Cassiano and Kevin Barden for their advice, leadership, knowledge, and friendship when I was in need. Additionally, I would like to thank all staff and students at University of Florida’s Tropical Aquaculture Lab for their support, knowledge, guidance, and willingness to help whenever it was needed. I would like to thank Jane Davis, Eric Curtis, and Marjorie Awai for providing milletseed butterflyfish broodstock for these trials. Lastly, I would like to thank Judy St. Leger, Rising Tide Conservation, and the Sea World and Busch Gardens Conservation Fund for providing the funding for my schooling and research. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 8 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 9 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... 11 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 17 Marine Ornamental Trade ....................................................................................... 17 Marine Ornamental Aquaculture ............................................................................. 20 Reproductive Metabolics .................................................................................. 21 Environment ..................................................................................................... 24 Gametogenesis and Embryology ...................................................................... 26 Larval Development and Culture ...................................................................... 26 Chaetodontidae ................................................................................................ 29 Objectives ............................................................................................................... 30 2 SPAWNING, EMBRYOLOGY, AND LARVAL DEVELOPMENT ............................. 33 Foreword ................................................................................................................. 33 Methods .................................................................................................................. 36 Acquisition of Broodstock and Broodstock Management .................................. 36 Spawning Behavior, Conditions, and Fecundity ................................................ 38 Hydrated Egg Characteristics and Larvae Evaluation ....................................... 40 Water Quality .................................................................................................... 40 Statistical Methods ........................................................................................... 41 Embryology....................................................................................................... 42 Larval Development .......................................................................................... 42 Results .................................................................................................................... 44 Spawning Behavior ........................................................................................... 44 Timeline ..................................................................................................... 44 Spawning Conditions ........................................................................................ 46 Fecundity .......................................................................................................... 47 Hydrated Egg Characteristics and Larvae Evaluation ....................................... 48 Embryology....................................................................................................... 49 Larval Development .......................................................................................... 49 Water Quality .................................................................................................... 53 Discussion ............................................................................................................... 53 5 Spawning Behavior ........................................................................................... 54 Spawning Conditions ........................................................................................ 55 Fecundity .......................................................................................................... 56 Hydrated Egg Characteristics and Larvae Evaluation ....................................... 58 Embryology....................................................................................................... 59 Larval Development .......................................................................................... 59 3 FIRST FEEDING PARAMETERS OF Chaetodon miliaris ....................................... 74 Foreword ................................................................................................................. 74 Methods .................................................................................................................. 76 Embryo Stocking and Culture ........................................................................... 77 Assessment of Feeding Response ................................................................... 78 Feeding Experiments ........................................................................................ 79 3-1 1 Prey selectivity .................................................................................. 79 3-2 and 3-3 Algal cell density ..................................................................... 79 3-4 4 Prey density ...................................................................................... 80 3-5 Larval stocking density ......................................................................... 80 3-6 Tank size.............................................................................................. 81 3-7 Water exchange rates .......................................................................... 81 3-8 Light intensity ....................................................................................... 82 Statistical Methods ........................................................................................... 82 Results .................................................................................................................... 83 Water Quality .................................................................................................... 83 Larval Measurements ....................................................................................... 83 3-2 2 Algal cell density ............................................................................... 84 3-3 Lower limit algal cell density ................................................................. 84 3-4 4 Prey density ...................................................................................... 85 3-5 Larval stocking density ......................................................................... 86 3-6 Tank size.............................................................................................. 86 3-7 Water exchange rate ............................................................................ 87 3-8 Light intensity ....................................................................................... 88 Discussion ............................................................................................................... 88 First Feeding Response.................................................................................... 88 3-1 1 Prey selectivity .................................................................................. 88 3-2 2 Algal cell density ............................................................................... 89 3-3 Lower limits algal cell density ............................................................... 90 3-4 4 Prey density .....................................................................................