Effects of a mix of Bacillus sp. as a potential probiotic for Florida pompano, common snook and red drum larvae performances and digestive enzyme activities

This study examined the effect of a commercial mix of Bacillus sp. on survival, growth and digestive enzyme activities of Florida pompano, red drum and common snook. Larvae were fed either live feed enriched with Algamac 3050 (Control), Algamac 3050 and probiotics (PB), or the previous diet combined with a daily addition of probiotics to the tank water (PB+). Survival was not affected by the treatments for any of the species. At the end of the pompano and snook trial, standard lengths of larvae from the PB and PB+ treatments were significantly greater than for the control larvae. Microbiological analyses were performed at the end of the pompano trial, and numbers of presumptive Vibrio were not a concern in the system. For both pompano and snook, trypsin-specific activity was higher in PB and PB+ larvae compared with the control larvae. Similarly, alkaline phosphatase activity was higher for the pompano larvae fed the PB and PB+ treatments and for the snook larvae fed the PB+ treatment compared with the control larvae. This experiment suggests that a mix of Bacillus sp. can promote growth through an early maturation of the digestive system during the early larval stages of pompano and snook.