Effects of different dietary lipid sources on growth performance,antioxidant enzyme activities and biochemical composition of juvenile swimming crab,Portunus trituberculatus

An 8‐week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary lipid sources on growth performance, antioxidant enzyme activities and biochemical composition of juvenile swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus of initial weight 2.34 ± 0.08 g. Four different diets were formulated to contain fish oil (FO), soybean oil (SO), linseed oil (LO) or palm oil (PO). The highest final body weight, weight gain, specific growth rate and molting frequency were observed in crabs fed the FO diet. Crabs fed the SO diet showed higher glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities in both serum and hepatopancreas than those fed the FO diet. The lowest malondialdehyde concentration in hepatopancreas and serum were occurred at crabs fed the SO diet. Crabs fed the LO diet had significantly higher SOD and CAT activities in hepatopancreas compared with those fed the FO diet. Crabs fed the PO diet had the highest activities of fatty acid synthase and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 activities in hepatopancreas among all treatments. Fatty acid compositions both in hepatopancreas and muscle reflected those of diets. Overall, these findings demonstrated that physiological–biochemical characteristics and lipid metabolism were significantly regulated by different dietary lipid sources. Moreover, dietary SO and LO supplementation could improve antioxidant ability.     

Effects of dietary supplementation of Haematococcus pluvialis powder on gonadal development,coloration and antioxidant capacity of adult male Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis)

The green algae Haematococcus pluvialis is an important source of natural astaxanthin as feed additive. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of H. pluvialis powder on gonadal development, coloration and antioxidant capacity of adult male Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis, and four experimental diets were formulated to contain 0, 0.2%, 0.4% and 0.6% of H. pluvialis powder. There were four treatments (defined as D1~D4) in this study and each treatment had three replicates. Dietary H. pluvialis contents had no significant effects on survival, body weight gain rate and gonadal development of male E. sinensis. For colour parameters, the total carotenoids content in carapace and hepatopancreas as well as hepatopancreatic lightness (L*) and carapace redness (a*) increased significantly with increasing dietary H. pluvialis (p < 0.05). For the antioxidant indices in the serum, D4 had the lowest activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD), but the highest glutathione peroxidase (GSH‐Px) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), while the malondialdehyde (MDA) in serum and hepatopancreas decreased significantly with the rising content of dietary H. pluvialis (p < 0.05); D1 had the highest levels of SOD, POD and GSH‐Px in hepatopancreas. For the non‐specific immune indices, the highest activities of acid phosphatase (ACP) and γ‐glutamyl transpeptidase (γ‐GT) were found on the serum of D3 and D4 (p < 0.05). D1 had the highest levels of ACP and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in hepatopancreas, while D2 and D3 had the lowest levels of ALP and ACP respectively. These results suggested the optimal dietary natural astaxanthin level was around 40 mg/kg diets.     

Comparison of immune responses and antioxidant status of different generations of growth‐selected Portunus trituberculatus families

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of inbreeding on the immune responses and antioxidant status of Portunus trituberculatus juveniles. Results showed that inbreeding affected the total haemocyte count, and phagocytic, pro‐phenoloxidase (propo), phenoloxidase and antibacterial activities decreased after the seventh generation. Antioxidant status showed a similar pattern: total antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and GSH/GSSG in the cell‐free haemolymph and hepatopancreas decreased, while catalase activity in the cell‐free haemolymph increased (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in α₂‐macroglobulin and bacteriolytic activities in the cell‐free haemolymph and glutathione peroxidase activity in the cell‐free haemolymph and hepatopancreas among nine inbreeding generations. Gene expression levels of proPO and crustin in haemocytes and SOD in haemocytes and hepatopancreas also decreased significantly as the inbreeding generations increased. The results suggest that a high level of inbreeding could severely reduce the physiological health of P. trituberculatus. Our obtained data would be particularly useful for P. trituberculatus breeding programmes.     

Effects of phospholipid addition to diets with different inclusion levels of fish oil on growth and fatty acid body composition of juvenile swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus

Six experimental diets were designed with two phospholipid (PL; 0% and 1.5%) and three fish oil levels (0%, 1% and 3%) to evaluate the effects of dietary fish oil and PL levels on growth, survival and fatty acid composition of juvenile swimming crab, Portunus trituberculatus. Diets were iso‐energetic and iso‐nitrogenous and each diet was fed to triplicate groups (initially weight, 24.88 ± 0.04 g per crab) for 59 days. Weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) increased with dietary PL addition to 0% fish oil‐supplemented diets (P < 0.05). On the other hand, WG and SGR decreased with dietary PL addition to 3% fish oil diets (P < 0.05). Crabs fed PL supplemented diets had higher haemolymph low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations and muscle crude lipid levels (P < 0.05) than crabs fed a none PL supplemented diet. The percentage of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA; % total FA) in both polar and neutral lipids fractions of muscle tissue only increased in case of PL addition to 0% and 1% fish oil‐supplemented diets (P < 0.05). HUFA levels in the neutral lipids fraction of the hepatopancreas increased by dietary PL addition at each dietary fish oil level (P < 0.05). In this study, both dietary fish oil and PL addition contributed to a high n‐3/n‐6 ratio in muscle and hepatopancreas of P. trituberculatus. In conclusion, PL addition is only meaningful with fish oil‐deficient diets, in which case it enhanced lipid transport and HUFA absorption efficiency, hence improving the nutritional value of the diet.     

Effects of dietary fish oil substitution with blending vegetable oils on growth performance,antioxidant enzyme activities and tissue fatty acid composition of juvenile swimming crab,Portunus trituberculatus

An 8‐week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of replacement of fish oil (FO) with blending vegetable oils (VOs) on growth performance, antioxidant enzyme activities and fatty acid composition in tissue of swimming crab Portunustrituberculatus. Five isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets were formulated to contain VOs (colza oil: palm oil: linseed oil = 4:2:1) to replace 0 (the control diet), 250, 500, 750 and 1000 g/kg of FO (defined D0, D25, D50, D75, D100). Three hundred juvenile swimming crabs (initial weight 2.34 ± 0.08 g) were randomly stocked and sorted into 300 individual rectangle plastic baskets in three cement pools. Each treatment has three replicates, one replicate has 20 swimming crabs, and each diet fed 60 crabs distributed in 60 baskets. The results indicated that crabs fed the control diet showed significantly higher survival, final body weight, per cent weight gain (PWG), specific growth rate and moulting frequency, crude protein and crude lipid contents in muscles than those fed the D75 and D100 VO diets (p < .05). Crabs fed the D25 VO diet showed significantly higher concentration of triglyceride, low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol and total protein, activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GSH‐Px) in haemolymph than those fed the control diet (p < .05). Fatty acid composition in hepatopancreas was positively correlated with dietary composition. In summary, based on the PWG, the optimal replacement of FO with VOs was estimated to be 250 g/kg. These findings demonstrated that swimming crabs make better use of FO than VOs.     

Growth,antioxidant capacity,intestine histology and lipid metabolism of juvenile red claw crayfish,Cherax quadricarinatus,fed different lipid sources

Five dietary lipid sources (fish oil, soybean oil, palm oil, rapeseed oil and linseed oil) were evaluated in juvenile red claw crayfish, Cherax quadricarinatus, based on the response of growth, antioxidant capacity, intestine histology, whole‐body composition, fatty acid nutrition and lipid metabolism. Crayfish were fed in quadruplicate net cages for 8 weeks. Crayfish fed diets with fish oil, soybean oil and linseed oil obtained significantly higher weight gain and specific growth rate than those fed the other two diets. Survival, condition factor and hepatosomatic index were not significantly affected by lipid sources. Lipid sources also do not affect the whole‐body composition of crayfish. Serum SOD, T‐AOC and GSH‐PX activities of crayfish fed the palm oil and rapeseed oil diets had a significantly lower value than those fed other diets. The minimum concentrations of MDA have been observed in crayfish fed the soybean oil diet. The activity of ACC in the hepatopancreas of crayfish fed the linseed oil diet showed the highest value, and the CPT‐1 activity was not significantly affected by different lipid sources. Crayfish fed the soybean oil diet showed significantly higher TC and TG contents in hepatopancreas than those fed other diets. Crayfish fed linseed oil diet had a significantly higher percentage of EPA, C18:3n?3 and Σn?3 PUFA in muscle than those fed other treatments. Most of the fatty acid compositions in the hepatopancreas had a close correlation to fatty acid compositions in diets. All findings in this study indicate that soybean oil is the advantageous lipid source for juvenile C. quadricarinatus which can reflect in satisfactory growth performance, antioxidant capacity and fatty acid nutrition of edible tissues.     

The effect of replacement of fish meal by yeast extract on the digestibility,growth and muscle composition of the shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

Feeding trials were conducted to determine the dietary level of yeast extract (YE) for replacing dietary fish meal for evaluating whether yeast extract was superior to intact yeast as an alternative protein source for shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. The basal diet (control, D0, containing 25% fish meal), was compared with five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic experimental diets [replacing 15% (D15), 30% (D30), 45% (D45), 60% (D60) or 100% (D100) of the fish meal in the basal diet with IYE]. The digestibility, growth and muscle composition of the shrimp were measured. The results showed that all replacement treatments displayed higher apparent digestibility of crude protein than did the control. The trypsinase activity in shrimp hepatopancreas increased significantly, whereas lipase activity decreased as the amount of dietary YE increased. The shrimp treated with D30 diet displayed the highest amylase activity in hepatopancreas. There was no significant difference in the weight gain (WG) and survival of shrimp between the control and the YE replacement treatments. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) increased as the dietary YE increased, and the FCRs of the D60 and the D100 treatments were significantly higher than that of the control (P < 0.05). The growth performance among the treatments was closely related to the similarity of the essential amino acids in the diets. There was no significant difference in muscle composition of the shrimp between control and other treatments. In conclusion, up to approximately 45% of the fish meal in shrimp diet can be replaced by yeast extract in the presence of supplemental fish oil, phosphorus and calcium.     

Effect of dietary lipid source and vitamin E on growth,non‐specific immune response and resistance to Aeromonas hydrophila challenge of Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis

Six purified diets were formulated to contain three lipid sources, fish oil (FO), linseed oil (LO) and soybean oil (SO), at 6% diet lipid crossing two levels of vitamin E (100 and 300 mg α‐tocopheryl acetate/kg diet) for each lipid source (FO100, FO300, LO100, LO300, SO100, SO300). The juvenile Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis, respectively, fed on these diets with four replicates for 6 weeks. The crab weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) were significantly affected by dietary lipid sources. No difference was found between the crabs fed two levels of vitamin E, but the WG and SGR were numerically higher in crab fed 300 mg/kg vitamin E than those fed the other level of vitamin E. The lipid source and vitamin E level could affect fatty acid composition in the hepatopancreas. The contents of saturated fatty acids (SAFA) and n‐3HUFA were significantly higher in the crab‐fed fish oil. The highest contents of n‐6PUFA and n‐3PUFA were found in the crab‐fed soybean oil and linseed oil respectively. The contents of SAFA, n‐3HUFA and n‐3PUFA were higher in the 300 mg/kg vitamin E treatment. A lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content and higher phenoloxidase (PO) activity were observed in the crab fed 300 mg/kg vitamin E. The results of this study indicate that the Chinese mitten crab fed the diet with 6% fish oil and 300 mg/kg vitamin E showed better growth, antioxidant capacity and resistance to Aeromonas hydrophila.     

混合微藻替代鱼油对大菱鲆幼鱼生长性能、体组成及肠道部分生化指标的影响

本实验以大菱鲆(Scophthalmus maximus)幼鱼[(39.69±0.25) g]为研究对象,探究由裂壶藻(Schizochytrium sp.)和拟微绿球藻(Nannochloropsis sp.)组成的混合微藻替代鱼油对幼鱼生长性能、体组成、肠道消化水平及抗氧化能力的影响,以确定混合微藻替代鱼油的适宜比例。通过在基础饲料中添加不同比例的混合微藻,分别替代0、25%、50%和100%的鱼油,制成4组等氮等脂的实验饲料(分别命名为D1、D2、D3和D4),每组饲料设3个重复,实验周期为12周。结果显示,随替代比例的提高,大菱鲆幼鱼的增重率(WGR)和饲料效率(FE)呈下降趋势,D1、D2和D3组的特定生长率(SGR)和FE无显著性差异,但均显著高于D4组(P<0.05);肝体比(HSI)在D1组达到最大值,且显著高于其他各组(P<0.05);存活率(SR)和肥满度(CF)在各组之间无显著差异(P>0.05)。随着混合微藻替代鱼油比例的升高,全鱼和肌肉粗脂肪含量呈先升高后降低的变化趋势,且D4组显著低于D1组(P<0.05);大菱鲆幼鱼鱼体中C20:4n-6和n-6 PUFA含量显著升高,在D4组均达到最大值,且显著高于对照组(P<0.05)。而EPA、DHA和n-3 PUFA含量随之显著下降,对照组(D1)含量显著高于其他各组(P<0.05);肌肉中C20:4n-6和DHA含量在不同实验组间无显著性差异(P>0.05),EPA和n-3 PUFA含量呈显著降低趋势(P<0.05)。肠道脂肪酶活力在D3组达到最大值,显著高于对照组(P<0.05),肠道胰蛋白酶活力也是在D3组最高,但与对照组无显著性差异(P>0.05)。与D1组相比,D3组肠道中酸性磷酸酶(ACP)、碱性磷酸酶(AKP)、溶菌酶(LZM)活力和补体C3含量均显著升高(P<0.05)。肠道中超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、总抗氧化能力(T-AOC)和过氧化氢酶(CAT)活力随替代比例的提高呈先升高后降低的趋势,均在D3组达到最大值,显著高于D1组(P<0.05),而肠道中丙二醛(MDA)含量在不同实验组间并未表现出显著性差异(P>0.05)。综上所述,混合微藻替代50%的鱼油并不会对大菱鲆幼鱼的生长性能产生负面影响,同时可以提高肠道的消化性能、抗氧化能力和非特异性免疫能力。     

性早熟中华绒螯蟹肝胰腺与性腺的酸性和碱性磷酸酶活性

采用磷酸苯二钠法在520nm波长测定了未成熟、早熟和正常成熟中华绒螯蟹肝胰腺与性腺中的酸性磷酸酶（ACP）和碱性磷酸酶（ALP）。结果表明：（1）各组蟹肝胰腺ACP和ALP活性都显著高于性腺;（2）早熟蟹肝胰腺中ACP活性都显著高于未成熟蟹而低于正常成熟蟹,在各发育阶段没有性别差异,但是,早熟雌蟹和正常成熟雌蟹卵巢中ACP活性都较早熟雄蟹和正常雄蟹精巢低,早熟与正常成熟个体没有差异;（3）早熟雌蟹肝胰腺ALP活性显著高于未成熟和正常成熟雌蟹,而与三组雄蟹处于同一水平,但是,早熟和正常成熟雌雄蟹的性腺中ALP活性没有显著差异。由此得出结论：（1）性腺发育所需营养物质的动员或合成主要与肝胰腺ACP有关;（2）性早熟的发生与肝胰腺中ACP和ALP活性的显著升高有关。     

Effects of dietary phospholipids levels on growth performance,lipid metabolism,and antioxidant capacity of the early juvenile green mud crab,Scylla paramamosain (Estampador)

Four iso‐nitrogenous and iso‐lipidic diets were designed to investigate the effects of dietary phospholipids (PL) levels (with 0%, 1%, 2%, and 4% PL supplementation) on growth performance, lipid metabolism, and antioxidant capacity in early juvenile green mud crab (Scylla paramamosain). There were three replicates of 28 crabs (initial body weight from 42.02 to 42.44 mg) for each diet treatment, and growth trial lasted for 8 weeks. At the end of the growth trial, there was no significant difference in survival among all treatments. Crabs fed diet with 2% PL obtained highest weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate than other crabs. The molting frequency was not affected by different dietary PL addition. Besides, the contents of whole body lipid and long chain highly unsaturated fatty acids significantly increased with elevating dietary PL levels. In the hepatopancreas, crabs fed diet with 0% PL had significantly higher malondialdehyde concentration than other crabs. And crabs fed diet with 2% PL obtained significantly higher superoxide dismutase activity than crabs fed diets with 0% and 4% PL. Moreover, the mRNA expression of Na⁺/K⁺‐ATPase was significantly down‐regulated with dietary PL supplementation over 2%. Based on the second order polynomial regression analysis of WG, 2.37% dietary PL level was the optimal demand for early juvenile S. paramamosain. Moreover, we found crabs fed diet with 2% PL obtained better antioxidant capacity than other crabs.     

Effects of cholesterol on growth,feed utilization,body composition and immune parameters in juvenile oriental river prawn,Macrobrachium nipponense (De Haan)

An 8‐week feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary cholesterol levels on growth, feed utilization, body composition and immune parameters in juvenile oriental river prawn, Macrobrachium nipponense. Six isolipid (80 g kg^?1 crude lipid) and isoproteic (400 g kg^?1 crude protein) diets, supplemented with 0, 3.0, 6.0, 9.0, 12.0 and 15.0 g kg^?1 cholesterol, were evaluated. Growth performance and feed utilization of M. nipponense were improved as dietary cholesterol levels increased. Weight gain and specific growth rate were highest, and feed conversation ratio was lowest, when prawns were fed a diet supplemented with 9.0 g kg^?1 cholesterol. However, final body weights and survival rates of juvenile M. nipponense were not affected significantly by dietary cholesterol. Body composition of prawns, including moisture, crude protein and crude lipid, was not significantly affected by changes in dietary cholesterol. The immune parameters measured in hepatopancreas, including total antioxidant capacity, and glutathione, catalase, alkaline phosphatase and acid phosphatase activities, were at optimum levels in prawns fed with 9.0 g kg^?1 dietary cholesterol. In summary, the best growth performance, lowest feed conversation ratio, and the most enhanced antioxidant capacity and immunity parameters were attained in juvenile M. nipponense when fed a diet supplemented with 9.0 g kg^?1 cholesterol.     

Hypoxia‐induced changes in survival,immune response and antioxidant status of the Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) fed with graded levels of dietary myo‐inositol

A 3‐hr experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary myo‐inositol (MI) supplementation on survival, immune response and antioxidant abilities in Litopenaeus vannamei under acute hypoxia stress. Six practical diets were formulated with supplementation of graded levels (control group 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 g/kg dry diet) of MI and were randomly assigned to triplicate groups of L. vannamei (mean weight 0.40 ± 0.00 g) for 8 weeks. Ten healthy shrimp (final mean weight approximately 11–14 g) randomly selected from each tank were exposed to hypoxia stress after feeding trial. After 3‐hr acute hypoxia stress, survival of shrimp fed MI‐supplemented diets (except 0.1 and 0.4 g/kg diets) was significantly increased compared with the control group. Shrimp fed control diet had lower activities of alkaline phosphatase (AKP), acid phosphatase (ACP), total antioxidant capacity (T‐AOC) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and higher malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein carbonyl (PC) contents in hepatopancreas than those fed the MI‐supplemented diets. In addition, mRNA expression levels of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), catalase (CAT) and penaeidin were significantly differentially regulated in hepatopancreas. In summary, dietary MI supplementation may have a positive effect on improving resistance to acute hypoxia stress of L. vannamei.     

溶藻弧菌对三疣梭子蟹溶菌酶和磷酸酶活性的影响

将健康的三疣梭子蟹（平均体重176±21.3g）分别注射生理盐水和溶藻弧菌,在感染后0、24、48和72h分别采集不同处理组梭子蟹的血淋巴、肌肉和肝胰腺组织,测定其中的溶菌酶（LSZ）、酸性磷酸酶（ACP）及碱性磷酸酶（ALP）活性,研究溶藻弧菌对三疣梭子蟹体内免疫相关酶活的影响。结果表明,感染组梭子蟹血淋巴LSZ活性在感染后24h显著高于对照组（P〈0.05）,随后活性显著降低（P〈0.05）;肌肉和肝胰腺组织中LSZ活性在感染24h有稍微上升的趋势,但是随着感染时间的延长其活性又逐渐下降,且在感染48h后分别显著低于对照组（P〈0.05）。感染组梭子蟹不同组织中ACP和ALP酶活随着感染时间的延长均呈下降的趋势,且感染48h后显著低于对照组（P〈0.05）。试验表明,三疣梭子蟹感染溶藻弧菌后对机体免疫相关酶活指标的影响较大,导致机体免疫防御能力的减弱。     

Ovarian development and nutritional quality changes of the wild‐caught Portunus trituberculatus during the artificial fattening period

A female swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus) with fully developed ovaries is considered one of the most nutritious types of seafood. The fishing yield of P. trituberculatus in China has always been high; however, its economic value has been low and unreliable due to poor ovarian development and low nutritional value. Artificial fattening is an effective way to improve the value of wild‐caught crabs, and this study focused on analysing the ovarian development and nutritional quality of the female P. trituberculatus during an artificial fattening period. Therefore, this study provides scientific evidence on the effects of artificial fattening on female P. trituberculatus and can guide the development of nutritional quality regulations for wild‐caught female crabs during the fattening process. The results showed that the ovaries of the wild female P. trituberculatus developed gradually. The ovarian morphology became bulkier, while the gonadosomatic index (GSI) and total edible yield (TEY) were significantly improved after artificial fattening. Significant changes in the nutritional components of the edible tissues were observed, and the moisture content in the ovaries and hepatopancreas decreased continually, while both the protein and fat content in the ovaries significantly increased. Moreover, the fat content in the hepatopancreas significantly increased. The saturated fatty acids(ΣSFA) in the ovaries and hepatopancreas had an increasing trend after fattening, while ΣPUFA and Σn‐3PUFA first decreased and then increased. In contrast, the ratio of Σn‐3PUFA to Σn‐6PUFA decreased steadily. However, the fatty acid composition of the muscles did not change significantly. The levels of all the amino acids increased continuously during the fattening process, and EAA increased significantly in the early stages of the fattening period. Consequently, all amino acids became nonlimiting amino acids after fattening. Furthermore, the ratio of EAA/NEAA in the ovaries increased continually until the end of the fattening period. On the other hand, the fatness and TEY increased significantly after artificial fattening. In addition, the nutritional value significantly improved with the exception of the high‐quality fatty acids in the ovaries and hepatopancreas, which were slightly lower in both.     

Effect of dietary leucine on growth performance,hemolymph and hepatopancreas enzyme activities of swimming crab,Portunus trituberculatus

An 8‐week feeding trial was conducted to determine the dietary leucine requirement for juvenile swimming crabs reared in cement pools. Six isonitrogenous and isolipidic practical diets (430 g/kg crude protein and 70 g/kg crude lipid) were formulated to contain graded leucine levels which ranged from 16.7 to 26.7 g/kg (dry weight). Each diet was randomly assigned to triplicate groups of 60 juvenile swimming crabs (initial average weight 3.75 ± 0.12 g) that were stocked in rectangle plastic baskets. The results of the present study indicated that dietary leucine levels significantly influenced weight gain (WG) and specific growth ratio (SGR) (p < .05), crab fed the diet containing 22.7 g/kg leucine had significantly higher WG and SGR than those fed the other diets. Feed efficiency and protein efficiency ratio were not significantly affected by the dietary leucine levels (p > .05). Total protein, cholesterol, triglyceride and glucose in serum were significantly affected by the dietary leucine levels. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase activities in hemolymph, AST and superoxide dismutase activities in hepatopancreas were significantly affected by dietary leucine levels; moreover, crab fed the 16.7 g/kg leucine diet had higher malondialdehyde in hemolymph and hepatopancreas than those fed the other diets. Crab fed the diet containing 24.9 g/kg leucine had higher phenoloxidase activity in hemolymph than those fed the other diets. Based on two‐slope broken‐line model of SGR against dietary leucine levels, the optimal dietary leucine requirement for growth was estimated to be 22.1 g/kg of the dry diet (corresponding to 51.4 g/kg of dietary protein on a dry weight basis). In summary, findings of this study indicated that dietary leucine could improve growth performance and antioxidant status.     

Effects of dietary fish oil substitution with linseed oil on growth,muscle fatty acid and metabolism of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of linseed oil (LO) replacing different levels of fish oil (FO) on growth, muscle fatty acid composition and metabolism of gift tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) (mean initial weight 22 ± 0.5 g) in indoor recycle aquarium tanks for 8 weeks. Fish fed the diet with 50% of the oil as LO had higher final body weight (FWG), specific growth rate (SGR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) than the other groups (P < 0.05). Hepatopancreas lipid content of fish fed 50% LO was lower than the other groups. Total n‐3 and n‐6 PUFA contents in the dorsal muscle and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in serum increased with increasing dietary LO level. Fish fed 50% LO had higher alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activities in hepatopancreas and total antioxidant capacity (T‐AOC) and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activities in serum than the other groups (P < 0.05). However, malate dehydrogenase (MDH) activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in hepatopancreas were lower than other groups (P < 0.05) with a 50% substitution level. Results of this study indicated that LO could substitute <50% FO without influencing the growth of tilapia. The higher substitution levels of LO induced negative influences on growth, feed utilization and antioxidant ability of tilapia, but could promote DHA synthesis in tilapia muscle.     

Effects of dietary fishmeal replacement with Spirulina platensis on the growth,feed utilization,digestion and physiological parameters in juvenile gibel carp (Carassis auratus gibelio var. CAS III)

A 60‐day growth experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary replacement of fishmeal by Spirulina platensis on growth performance, digestion and physiological parameters in juvenile gibel carp (5.0 ± 1.0 g). Four diets were formulated to replace 0 (SP0), 50% (SP50), 75% (SP75) and 100% (SP100) of dietary fishmeal protein by S. platensis respectively. Other two diets based on SP100 were supplemented with 2% dicalcium phosphate (SP100 + P) or 0.28% coated lysine (SP100 + Lys). The results showed that no significant differences of specific growth rate (SGR), feed efficiency (FE), feeding rate (FR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were observed between SP0 group and the replacement groups (SP50, SP75 and SP100). FE and PER of fish‐fed SP100 + Lys diet were significantly higher than the fish‐fed SP100 diet (p < .05). Apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) of dry matter, protein, energy and phosphorus increased significantly with the increasing S. platensis inclusion. Meanwhile, fish from SP100 + P or SP100 + Lys group had higher ADCs of nutrients compared to the SP100 group (p < .05). Compared with SP0 diet, fish‐fed S. platensis diets had higher activities of plasma superoxide dismutase, hepatopancreas total antioxidant capacity, plasma alkaline phosphatase and plasma lysozyme, as well as the lower content of plasma malondialdehyde. The present results indicated that dietary fishmeal could be fully replaced by S. platensis without any negative effects on growth performance of gibel carp. Supplementation of lysine in the S. platensis replacement diet could further improve the feed utilization of gibel carp.