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Scylla mud crabs are economically important portunid species for aquaculture in many countries. However, mass production of mud crabs as a supply of seafood is still difficult up-to-date. This review aimed to provide an overview of the major constraints faced in the grow-out farming of mud crabs, and the potential solutions were discussed. The major constraints in the Scylla mud crabs' grow-out culture are (1) inadequate seed supply, (2) cannibalism, (3) disease outbreaks, and (4) no commercial formulated feed that is specifically designed for mud crabs. The inadequate wild mud crabs seed supply can be solved through artificial seed production seed in the hatcheries, but the knowledge of mud crab requirements at early life stages is needed to improve the rearing techniques and production. Cannibalism in the grow-out culture of mud crabs is manageable, provided that the farmers are knowledgeable about the basic prevention methods (shelter provision, size grading, monosex culture) and they are practicing it. On the disease outbreaks, research into discovering new alternatives to antibiotics and prevention methods should be prioritized. Finally, the commercial formulated grow-out diet that is specific for the Scylla mud crabs should be developed to replace the use of natural products for feeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aquaculture of decapod crustaceans is expanding continuously to supply protein source for human consumption. Therefore, intensive research is necessary to improve the quality of the feeds in decapod crustacean farming. Decapod crustaceans are slow feeders, and dietary inclusion of plant proteins reduces their intakes on the feeds. Dietary supplementation of chemoattractants (CA) (to reduce food searching duration) and feeding stimulants (FS) (to stimulate ingestion) is therefore necessary to solve these problems respectively. Amino acids are commonly used as the CA and FS in aquaculture, and the feeding response of aquatic animals to amino acids is species‐specific. As the chemosensory systems of decapod crustaceans are complicated, and their feeding responses are different from fish, it is essential to understand which amino acids can function as the CA, FS or both to the targeted farmed species. This review provides an overview on the acceptance of some commercially farmed decapod crustaceans to amino acids. Topics related to the efficiency of amino acids being a CA and FS were discussed, and recommendations on how to present amino acids as a CA and FS efficiently in decapod crustacean farming were also made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: feeding behaviour; feeding enhancement; saponins; sugar EN feeding behaviour feeding enhancement saponins sugar 2164 2167 4 04/11/20 20200501 NES 200501 INTRODUCTION The highly valued mud crabs of the genus I Scylla i spp. (Decapoda, Portunidae) are widely distributed throughout the Indo-West-Pacific region, where they are closely associated with mangrove forests (Alberts-Hubatsch et al., [1]). This selective choice was often observed in the test feed treated with 50% or 100% SJ, and the turning from the test feed to the control feed was never observed. At these SJ concentrations, a crab took all five pieces of test feed in three trials, but this rigorous feed intake behaviour was never observed against the control feed. This feeding behaviour indicates that the crab preferred SJ treated feed and SJ supplementation enhanced feeding of I S. tranquebarica i . [Extracted from the article]