Integrated culture of silver kob Argyrosomus inodorus and bloodworm Arenicola loveni loveni in abalone farm effluent

Abstract

South African abalone Haliotis midae farms utilise large volumes of seawater (c. 500–1 500 l s^–1) and produce relatively dilute effluents that are potentially suitable for the integrated culture of other species. To test this hypothesis, a marine finfish, silver kob Argyrosomus inodorus, and a detritivorous polychaete, bloodworm Arenicola loveni loveni, were cultured in abalone farm effluent and the results compared to controls reared in unused seawater. The silver kob were fed a nutritionally complete pelleted diet whereas the bloodworm were placed in shallow tanks with a low water velocity that allowed suspended organic solids to settle for the detritivorous worms to feed on. Silver kob growth rate (0.48% body weight d^–1; SE = 0.01%), mortality (1.8 ± 0.5%), feed conversion ratio (3.0 ± 0.2) and protein efficiency ratio (1.0 ± 0.1) did not differ significantly between the effluent and control treatments. Bloodworm reared in abalone effluent grew well on the particulate organic waste matter in the effluent (0.39% body weight gain d^–1; SE = 0.07%), whereas those in the seawater control lost weight at 0.19 ± 0.04% body weight d^–1 over the experimental period. Bloodworm mortality did not differ significantly between effluent (6 ± 3%) and unused seawater (11 ± 8%) treatments. The faster growth of bloodworm in the abalone farm effluent was ascribed to the higher deposition rate of enriched organic solids (182 ± 56 g m^–2 d^–1) compared with those grown in the seawater control (46 ± 13 g m^–2 d^–1). It was concluded that abalone farm effluent is potentially suitable for the culture of both bloodworm and silver kob.