The silver cyprinid   Rastrineobola argentea   as the main diet source for rearing  Anopheles arabiensis  mosquitoes

Jared Owiti Yugi<sup>1</sup>; Otieno-Ayayo ZN<sup>2,*</sup>; Ochanda H<sup>3</sup>; Mukabana WR<sup>3</sup>

The silver cyprinid Rastrineobola argentea as the main diet source for rearing Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes

Jared Owiti Yugi¹

, Otieno-Ayayo ZN^2,*

, Ochanda H³

, Mukabana WR³

1. Department of Applied Sciences, Kisumu Polytechnic, P. O. Box 143-40100, Kisumu, Kenya
2. School of Science, Technology and Engineering, Rongo University College, P.O. Box 103, Rongo-40404, Kenya
3. School of Biological Sciences, University of Nairobi, P. O. Box 30197-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
*Current Address: School of Science, Technology and Engineering, Rongo University College, P.O. Box 103, Rongo-40404, Kenya

Author

Correspondence author
Journal of Mosquito Research, 2014, Vol. 4, No. 17 doi: 10.5376/jmr.2014.04.0017
Received: 27 Aug., 2014 Accepted: 19 Sep., 2014 Published: 27 Oct., 2014

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Preferred citation for this article:

Yugi et al., 2014, The silver cyprinid Rastrineobola argentea as the main diet source for rearing Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes, Journal of Mosquito Research, Vol.4, No.17 1-6 (doi: 10.5376/jmr.2014.04.0017)

Abstract

Background & objectives: All organisms that are cultured for laboratory bioassays need food for sustenance and amplification of the colony to such numbers that would not compromise the progress of the research at hand. For effective turnover rate in the population generation, the diet should be such that it is readily available and provide adequate nutrients to the organisms. The aim of this study was to test and evaluate the efficacy of Rastrineobola argentea as a diet source for rearing Anopheles arabiensis Patton mosquitoes for research.

Methods: Crushed fish, Rastrineobola argentea and two other commercial larval feeds (Tetramin^Ò Baby fish food and baker’s yeast) were compared for their efficacy as diet sources for feeding Anopheles arabiensis mosquito larvae. The effects of these diet types were determined against fecundity, size, longevity and male mating competitiveness.

Results: Mosquitoes raised on Tetramin^Ò Baby fish food laid larger egg batches (66.45 ± 5.03 mm) as compared to crushed fish (64.86 ± 4.93 mm) or bakers’ yeast (50.49 ± 4.25 mm). However, the number of eggs laid by the mosquitoes irrespective of the diet type did no differ significantly (p < 0.132). Mosquitoes raised on Tetramin^Ò Baby fish food were larger in size (3.06 ± 0.02 mm) as compared to those raised on crushed R. argentea (2.93 ± 0.01 mm) or baker’s yeast (3.00 ± 0.02 mm). The choice of diet was found to influence both mosquito size (p < 0.001) and fecundity (p < 0.013).

Conclusion: This study found that crushed R. argentea is an effective mosquito larval diet and that it has the potential of being more effective than tetramin if refined further and supplements added.

Keywords

Rastrineobola argentea; Anopheles arabiensis; Fecundity; Longevity; Eclosion

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