Studies to establish an optimal diet for Carcinus maenas

Carcinus maenas was maintained on synthetic foods containing various amounts of vitamins, cod liver oil and cholesterol. Food quality was evaluated in terms of growth, duration of intermoult periods and time of survival of the crabs. Vitamins are necessary for their growth and survival and cholesterol is also an essential nutrient. The best growth rates were obtained with 1.4 and 2.1% cholesterol in the food. At 6 and 9% cod liver oil in the food, we observed the best growth, while too high lipid levels slightly reduced the growth of the crustaceans, and definitely reduced their survival time.