Development of mud crab breeding technology for conservation and communal livelihoods in the Setiu Wetlands, Terengganu, Malaysia

Setiu Wetlands is located along the Terengganu coastline which comprises various ecosystems providing a suitable natural environment for breeding and grow out of various organisms. The mud crab is considered to be one of the important natural resources and a source of income for the local community in the Setiu Wetlands. The aim of this study is to develop the breeding and larviculture technology of mud crab (Scyllaparamamosian) for conservation and livelihood activities in Setiu Wetland. The matured broodstock of mud crab was collected from Setiu Wetland and transferred to AKUATROP hatchery in Universiti Malaysia Terengganu for the breeding experiments. After eyestalk ablation, crabs were separately cultured in 50L dark tanks with sandy bottom connected with recirculating systems and fed trash fish and with blood cockle twice a day. After egg spawning, ovigerous crabs were moved to incubated tanks with continuous aeration and not fed until hatching. Strong phototactic larvae were collected and stocked in 500L tanks at 300inds/L of density. The crab larvae were fed Artemiafrom Zoea 1 to Zoea 3, and intergraded artificial feed from Zoea 4. After megalope metamorphosis, larvae were transferred to larger tanks with substrates. The results showed that 80-90% of broodstock spawnedeggs after 50 days of maturation culture. The larvae took 23 to 27 days to complete the ontogenetic development with 5 -10% of crablet survival rate. These results could contribute to crab conservation and livelihood activities in Setiu Wetlands.