Seaweed dietary supplements enhance the innate immune response of the mottled rabbitfish, Siganus fuscescens

Disease is one of the major bottlenecks for aquaculture development, costing the industry in excess of US $6 billion each year. The increase in pressure to phase out some traditional approaches to disease control (e.g. antibiotics) is pushing farmers to search for alternatives to treat and prevent disease outbreaks, which do not have detrimental consequences (e.g. antibiotic resistance). We tested the effects of eleven seaweed species and four established fish immunostimulants on the innate immune response (cellular and humoral immunity) of the rabbitfish Siganus fuscescens. All supplements including different seaweeds from the three groups (Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta) were included in the fish pellet at 3% (by weight) and had variably positive effects across the four innate immune parameters we measured compared to control fish. Diets supplemented with the red seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis and the brown seaweed Dictyota intermedia led to the largest boosts in humoral and cellular innate immune defences, including particularly significant increases in haemolytic activity. Diets supplemented with Ulva fasciata also led to promising positive effects on the fish innate immune responses. We conclude that dietary seaweed supplements can boost the immune response of S. fuscescens and thus the top three species highlighted in this study should be further investigated for this emerging aquaculture species and other fish species.