Culture of Caulerpa lentillifera on Screen Mats

Abstract

Caulerpa lentillifera is one of the species of seaweeds cultivated commercially in the Philippines. C. lentillifera is either cultured in ponds or gathered from the wild. In this study, the use of screen mats as substrate for C. lentillifera was tested for small scale production in ponds or in shallow areas offshore. Seaweeds were fertilized once a day, twice a day, once a week, and after 15 days. The growth was determined after 30 days. The growth of C. lentillifera fertilized once a week was significantly higher at 5.65% a day than unfertilized C. lentillifera at 2.55% a day. The use of screen mats in ponds and shallow foreshore area for the culture of C. lentillifera could be recommended for small scale cultivation.