Marine material derived from early developmental stages of barnacles

Abstract

The present invention relates to a nutritional product comprising a biological material derived from eggs and/or nauplii of stage I of a barnacle and its uses. The invention, especially discloses a feed for early live stages of aquatic animals such as fish or crustaceans comprising isolated eggs and/or nauplii of stage I of a barnacle or a material derived thereof. Methods for harvesting, isolating and preservation of the biological barnacle material are also disclosed.

1 . A nutritional product wherein the product comprises biological material derived from eggs and/or nauplii of stage I of a  barnacle.    
     
     
         2 . A product according to  claim 1 , wherein the product further comprises nauplius stage II of a  barnacle.    
     
     
         3 . A product according to  claim 1 , wherein at least 70% of the comprised material are nauplius stage I, more preferred at least 80%, even more preferred at least 90%, even more preferred at least 95%, and most preferred at least 99% of the material in relation to the total wet weight or total number of organisms. 
     
     
         4 . A product according to  claim 1 , wherein the content of eggs is less than 30%, more preferred less than 20%, even more preferred less than 10% and most preferred less than 5% in relation to the wet weight or number of organisms comprised in the product. 
     
     
         5 . A product according  claim 2 , wherein the content of  barnacle  nauplius stage II is less than 50%, more preferred 20%, even more preferred less than 10% and most preferred less than 5% in relation to the wet weight or number of organisms comprised in the product. 
     
     
         6 . A product according to  claim 1 , wherein the  barnacle  material comprised in the product only comprises nauplius stage I, or only comprises eggs, or only comprises a combination of nauplius stage I with eggs and/or nauplius stage II of a  barnacle.    
     
     
         7 . A product according to  claim 1 , where the material does not comprise living developmental stages of  barnacles.    
     
     
         8 . A product according to  claim 1 , wherein said product is a feed product for an animal, preferably for an aquatic animal, more preferably for a farmed aquatic animal selected from fish and crustacean, for an ornamental vertebrate or for ornamental invertebrate and most preferred for early live stages of a fish or of a crustacean, which is preferably a species selected from a marine fish larvae, a crab, a shrimp, a prawn and a lobster. 
     
     
         9 . A product according to  claim 1 , wherein said product comprises or consists of an oil derived from eggs and/or nauplius stage I or a combination of eggs and/or nauplius stage I with nauplius stage II of a  barnacle.    
     
     
         10 . A method of feeding a farmed aquatic animal, an ornamental vertebrate, or an ornamental invertebrate, comprising:
 preparing a feed comprising the product of  claim 1  with or without further additives; and   adding the feed to a unit comprising the farmed aquatic animal, the ornamental vertebrate, or the ornamental invertebrate.   
     
     
         11 . A method for supplementing the diet of an animal or human, comprising administering a feed supplement, a health product, and/or a functional feed comprising eggs and/or nauplius stage I of a  barnacle  to an animal or human for consumption. 
     
     
         12 . A method for harvesting and isolating of eggs and/or nauplii of stage I from a sessile, mature  barnacle  attached to a surface wherein the eggs and/or nauplii of stage I are removed directly from the sessile  barnacle  by washing said eggs and nauplii stage I out of the sessile mature  barnacles  by water jetting, and thereafter collecting. 
     
     
         13 . A method for harvesting and isolating of eggs and/or nauplii of stage I from a sessile, mature  barnacle  attached to a surface for use in a product according to  claim 1  wherein the eggs and/or nauplii of stage I are:
 removed from the sessile  barnacle  after said  barnacle  has been detached from said surface by mechanical forces and/or water jetting, and the removed mature  barnacles  are collected together with the eggs and/or nauplii of stage I, and 
 optionally releasing eggs and/or nauplii of stage I still attached to the  barnacle  after said detachment by use of mechanical forces and/or washing; and 
 separating the eggs and/or nauplii from the mature  barnacles  by a separation method. 
 
     
     
         14 . A method according to  claim 12 , wherein the obtained eggs and nauplii stage I are fractionated after release from the mature  barnacles  in different size fractions either
 by a mechanical separation method, preferably selected from sieving, filtration and/or centrifugation, or   by application of light causing a phototactic response of the nauplius larvae.   
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 12 , wherein the method comprises an additional step for increasing the content of nauplius stage I in the material after harvesting by incubating the isolated living eggs and/or nauplius stage I still comprised in the egg membrane for a defined period of time in sea water to hatch/release nauplius I which are still situated in the egg membrane to free swimming nauplius I. 
     
     
         16 . A method according to  claim 15 , wherein the incubation temperature is between 5 and 10° C., more preferred about 8° C. and the incubation time between 5 and 12 hours, preferably about 10 hours. 
     
     
         17 . A method for preserving eggs and/or nauplii of stage I of a  barnacle  wherein the  barnacle  material is preserved by a heat treatment which is chosen from heating to a temperature between 55° C. and less than 70° C., pasteurization by heating to at least 70° C., preferably above 75° C. and sterilization above 100° C. and optionally stored. 
     
     
         18 . A method for preserving of a  barnacle  material for a product according to  claim 1 , wherein the comprised harvested nauplii and/or eggs are treated by one or several of the methods selected from cooling below the animals freezing point, heat treatment, drying, freeze drying, storage in a modified atmosphere, and addition of preserving chemicals. 
     
     
         19 . A method according to  claim 17 , wherein the material is stored below the freezing point, preferably at −18° C. or lower, more preferably at −80° C. or lower with or without previous preservation. 
     
     
         20 . A method according to  claim 17 , wherein the material is stored in a modified atmosphere, preferably in nitrogen gas, more preferred storage in a modified atmosphere and at a temperature below 4° C. with or without previous preservation. 
     
     
         21 . Composition comprising eggs and/or nauplius stage I of  barnacles  or a material derived thereof for use in a prophylactic or medical treatment. 
     
     
         22 . Composition according to  claim 21  for improvement of growth, survival and/or malpigmentation of an animal, preferably of an aquatic animal.