Hydrobiologia 326/327 : 353-354, 1996.

353
S. C. Lindstrom & D. J. Chapman (eds), Fifteenth International Seaweed Symposium .
©1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers . Printed in Belgium .

Experimental tank cultivation of Gracilaria sp. (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta)

in Ecuador

Magdalena Salazar 0 .
Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral, P 0 . Box 09-01-5863, Guayaquil, Ecuador; Fax : 59-34-854629,
e -mail: msalazar@espol .edu .e c

Key words: aquaculture, biomass, Gracilaria, seaweed

Abstract
This paper describes experiments to grow a local and still unidentified species of Gracilaria in shrimp hatcheries in
Ecuador. The experiments used outdoor tanks of 1 and 18 m3 capacity, with continuous aeration and water renewal
every two and five days, respectively . The sea water (salinity 34 ppt) was enriched with Guillard's f/2 medium ; light
and temperature were monitored but not controlled . One kg of fresh seaweed, inoculated into each tank, produced
a biomass of ca . 3 kg in a period of 35 days in the 1 m 3 tank and 18 kg in 43 days in the 18 m 3 tank . We therefore
believe that it is technically feasible to use the large infrastructure of existing shrimp hatcheries in Ecuador to
produce Gracilaria .

Introduction alternative to shrimp cultivation capable of optimizing

Over 95% of Ecuadorian aquaculture activity is con-
centrated on the production of one species . Penaeus
vannamei (Boone) is the dominant species cultivated
within 133 000 hectares of commercial shrimp farms,
with over 300 larvae hatcheries . At present this sector is
experiencing a series of production problems, with dis-
ease, shortage of wild larvae, and pollution of waters
in the Gulf of Guayaquil . Due to these problems, it
seemed imperative to investigate other organisms capa-
ble of being cultivated together with shrimp, organisms
that could help improve shrimp production by elimi-
nation of nutrient excess, purification of pond effluent
by biodegradation of noxious substances, and improve-
ment of the natural secondary production, which would
in turn improve shrimp growth . Macroalgal cultivation
seemed to be the most viable alternative . In addition to
improving shrimp production, algal cultivation could
create a new source of export revenues in the provision
of agar to domestic and foreign markets . Agar is main-
ly extracted from Gracilaria spp ., which constitute a
valuable resource with world-wide demand .
This work was carried out at the Ecuadorian com-
pany Maritima Martin Cia Ltda in order to promote an
existing farm infrastructure .
Materials and methods
Outside production facilities consisted of a 10001 PVC
tank and an 18 m 3 cement tank . Both tanks were
equipped with PVC aeration lines on the bottom of
the tanks .
A total of 450 g of Gracilaria sp . from natural
beds of Guayas Province was collected and wrapped in
wet blotting paper and transported in an ice chest with
ice to the laboratory at Esmeraldas, northern Ecuador .
The specimens were cleaned of epiphytes and put into
beakers with Guillard's f/2 medium to increase the
biomass to be used in the outdoor tanks .
Outside production was started using 1000 g of
clean material from the inside production unit . In the
10001 tanks, Guillard's f/2 medium was used, together
with strong aeration and with an exchange of water
every two days . Salinity was 34 ppt, and temperature,
29 °C . The 18 m3 cement tank had water changed every
five days, and nutrients (0 .3 ml 1 -1 0 .315 M nitrate and
0 .3 ml 1 -1 0.005 M phosphate) were added with the
water changes .
354
3
2.8
2 .5
2.4
2.2
I
2

I
O
1 .8
Y 1,e
1.4
1 .2
1
12/3 14/3 20/3 27/3 2/4 64 1314 18/4
Dab

Figure 1 . Increase in biomass (kg fresh weight) of Gracilaria sp . grown in a 10001 tank at a shrimp hatchery, Guayaquil, Ecuador, 12 March to
16 April 1991 .

f
r

Ie
Y

1213 20/3 27/3 30/3 314 7/4 1514 18/4 24/4

De

Figure 2. Increase in biomass (kg fresh weight) of Gracilaria sp . grown in an 18 m 3 tank at a shrimp hatchery, Guayaquil, Ecuador, 12 March
to 24 April 1991 .

Results
In the 10001 tank, from an inoculum of 1000 g, a har-
vest of 2998 .3 g was obtained after 35 days (Figure 1) .
The 18 m3 tank, also with a starting biomass of 1 kg,
produced 18 kg in 43 days (Figure 2) .
Discussion
The results of our preliminary study of Gracilaria sp.,
using the existing infrastructure of a shrimp hatchery
in Ecuador, showed that a wild strain of Gracilaria
could be cultivated in concrete tanks .
Due to the various ways utilized to calculate pro-
duction and the different methodologies used, it is dif-
ficult to compare our results with the ones in the litera-
ture (cf . Oliveira & Plastino, 1994) . Nevertheless, our
results are in the same range as the ones obtained by
Ryther et al . (1979) for Gracilaria tikvahiae McLach-
lan in Florida.
Therefore, we conclude that it is technically feasi-
ble to cultivate macroalgae within a shrimp hatchery
using existing facilities .
Acknowledgments
Our special thanks are conveyed to Mr William
E. Bright, general manager of Maritima Sul Ameri-
ca, Guayaquil, Ecuador, Dr Jose Zertuche, Universi-
dad Autonoma de Baja California, Mexico, Dr Maria
Eliana Ramirez, National Natural History Museum,
Santiago, Chile, and the directors of Escuela Superior
Politecnica del Litoral, for without a lot of their help
and guidance, this paper would not have been possible .
References
Oliveira, E. C . & E. M. Plastino, 1994 . Gracilariaceae. In I . Akatsuka
(ed .), Biology of economic algae . SBP Academic Publishing bv,
The Hague : 185-226 .
Ryther, J. H ., J . A. DeBoer & B . E. Lapointe, 1979 . Cultivation
of seaweeds for hydrocolloids, waste treatment and biomass for
energy conversion . Proc . Int . Seaweed Symposium 9 : 1-16 .