Investigations on the use of microalgae for aquaculture

Microalgaes are probably the most commonly used organisms as live feed during the larviculture and nursery of aquacultural organisms, and many researches have been made worldwide in this field. This chapter is a summary of the investigations conducted in the University of Sonora, México, on the use of microalgae for aquaculture of diverse organisms, mainly crustaceans and fishes. The document is divided in five sections related to the most important aspects of the culture such as: production systems; evaluation of particular species and their nutritional value for selected organisms (mollusks and crustaceans), effect of physical and chemical environmental factors on the production and nutritional value, evaluation of commercial laboratories of microalgaes, and evaluation of alternative mediums for their culture. The results of our investigations are discussed when compared to similar studies on the same or different species and in the same or different regions.