Nutritional Value and Uses of Microalgae in Aquaculture

Microalgae, are enormously bio-diverse microscopic algae that are primary producers of biomass and oxygen by photosynthesis, ie from carbon dioxide in the presence of sunlight, in marine or freshwater systems. It is un-disputed that they are the basic sustenance units of earths atmosphere, as they produce approximately half of the atmospheric oxygen and use simultaneously the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to grow photoautotrophically. In addition to biological diversity, the chemical composition of microalgae can be diversely varied by cultivation conditions making it ideal for biomass production as a nutrient source or for bulk production of bio-chemicals. The microalgae are an untapped resource of nutrition and protein for not only human, animal feel but also for the aquaculture. This book details the use of microalgae as food source in the rearing of all stages of marine clams, oysters, scallops or the the larval stages of some marine gastropods, fish species and shrimp.