Growth performance and body composition of pacu Piaractus mesopotamicus (Holmberg 1887) in response to dietary protein and energy levels

Improper dietary protein and energy levels and their ratio will lead to increased fish production cost. This work evaluated effects of dietary protein : energy ratio on growth and body composition of pacu, Piaractus mesopotamicus. Fingerling pacu (15.5 ± 0.4 g) were fed twice a day for 10 weeks until apparent satiation with diets containing 220, 260, 300, 340 or 380 g kg^?1 crude protein (CP) and 10.9, 11.7, 12.6, 13.4 or 14.2 MJ kg^?1 digestible energy (DE) in a totally randomized experimental design, 5 × 5 factorial scheme (n = 3). Weight gain, specific growth rate increased and feed conversion ratio (FCR) decreased significantly (P < 0.05) when CP increased from 220 to 271, 268 and 281 g kg^?1 respectively. Pacu was able to adjust feed consumption in a wide range of dietary DE concentration. Fish fed 260 CP diets showed best (P < 0.05) protein efficiency ratio and FCR with 11.7–12.6 MJ kg^?1; but for the 380 CP‐diets group, significant differences were observed only at 14.2 MJ kg^?1 dietary energy level, suggesting that pacu favours protein as energy source. DE was the chief influence on whole body chemical composition. Minimum dietary protein requirement of pacu is 270 g kg^?1, with an optimum CP : DE of 22.2 g MJ^?1.     

Growth and body composition of juvenile white shrimp,Litopenaeus vannamei,fed different ratios of dietary protein to energy

A 10‐week feeding experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different protein to energy ratios on growth and body composition of juvenile Litopenaeus vannamei (initial average weight of 0.09 ± 0.002 g, mean ± SE). Twelve practical test diets were formulated to contain four protein levels (300, 340, 380 and 420 g kg^?1) and three lipid levels (50, 75 and 100 g kg^?1). Each diet was randomly fed to triplicate groups of 30 shrimps per tank (260 L). The water temperature was 28.5 ± 2 °C and the salinity was 28 ± 1 g L^?1 during the experimental period. The results showed that the growth was significantly (P < 0.05) affected by dietary treatments. Shrimps fed the diets containing 300 g kg^?1 protein showed the poorest growth. However, shrimp fed the 75 g kg^?1 lipid diets had only slightly higher growth than that fed 50 g kg^?1 lipid diets at the same dietary protein level, and even a little decline in growth with the further increase of dietary lipid to 100 g kg^?1. Shrimp fed the diet with 420 g kg^?1protein and 75 g kg^?1 lipid had the highest specific growth rate. However, shrimp fed the diet with 340 g kg^?1 protein and 75 g kg^?1 lipid showed comparable growth, and had the highest protein efficiency ratio, energy retention and feed efficiency ratio among dietary treatments. Triglycerides and total cholesterol in the serum of shrimp increased with increasing dietary lipid level at the same dietary protein level. Body lipid and energy increased with increasing dietary lipid level irrespective of dietary protein. Results of the present study showed that the diet containing 340 g kg^?1 protein and 75 g kg^?1 lipid with digestible protein/digestible energy of 21.1 mg kJ^?1 is optimum for L. vannamei, and the increase of dietary lipid level has not efficient protein‐sparing effect.     

The effects of dietary digestible protein and digestible energy content on protein retention efficiency of juvenile silver perch Bidyanus bidyanus (Mitchell)

Effects of varying dietary digestible protein (DP) and digestible energy (DE) on protein retention efficiency (PRE), weight gain, protein deposition and carcass composition for silver perch (Bidyanus bidyanus, Mitchell) were studied. Using digestibility data for silver perch, we formulated three series of diets with different DE contents (13, 15 or 17 MJ DE kg^?1). For each series, a ‘summit’ diet containing an excess of protein for silver perch (based on previous research) and a ‘diluent’ diet with only 10–13% DP were formulated. By blending the summit and diluent diets together in different ratios, five diets with different DP contents were produced for each DE series. A commercial diet was also included to give 16 experimental diets in total. Eight juvenile fish (mean initial weight 1.2 g) were stocked into each of 64 × 70‐L acrylic aquaria and then each of the 16 diets was randomly allocated to four replicate aquaria. Tanks were supplied with partially recirculated water (75%) at 25–27°C. Fish were fed restrictively, twice per day, based initially on 3.5% body weight day^?1 with 40% of the ration given at 08:30 hours and 60% given at 15:00 hours for 59 days. Quadratic functions were fitted to each energy series to describe the relationship between DP content of diets and PRE (the asymptote of these functions were used to predict maximum PRE). For low DE (13 MJ kg^?1), mid‐DE (15 MJ kg^?1) and high DE (17 MJ kg^?1), the dietary DP contents to give maximum PRE were 24.7%, 26.1% and 30.1% respectively. Carcass fat decreased with increasing DP and increasing DP:DE ratio. Varying the dietary protein and DE also influenced other indices of fish performance. ‘Optimum’ dietary protein therefore depends on several factors. For fish fed, restrictively, the protein content needed to maximize PRE is lower than the content needed to maximize weight gain or minimize carcass fat. For fish fed to satiation, the lowest protein content for maximum weight gain is lower than for fish fed restrictively.     

Effects of dietary protein and lipid levels and DP DE−1 ratio on growth, feed utilization and hepatosomatic index of juvenile haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus L.

Juvenile haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus L. (initial weight, 13.5 ± 0.1 g) were fed practical diets containing digestible protein to digestible energy (DP DE^?1) ratios of 25–30 g DP MJ DE^?1as‐fed using three protein levels (450, 500 and 550 g kg^?1) each at two lipid levels (110 and 160 g kg^?1) for 63 days. The results showed mean weight gain and feed conversion ratio were highest for diets containing 28.5 and 30.2 g DP MJ DE^?1. DP DE^?1 ratio had no significant effect on protein efficiency ratio except at the lowest level (24.7 g DP MJ DE^?1) indicating a protein sparing effect of higher lipid when dietary protein is below the requirement. Haddock appears to preferentially use protein as the prime source of DE. DP DE^?1 ratio had little effect on apparent digestibility (AD) of protein while AD of lipid was significantly affected. Significant differences in AD of energy and organic matter were found to be inversely related to the carbohydrate level of the diet. DP DE^?1 ratios of 28.5 g DP MJ DE^?1 or lower resulted in significantly higher hepatosomatic indexes. The highest whole‐body nitrogen gains and energy retention efficiencies were achieved at 28.5 and 30.2 g DP MJ DE^?1, whereas only slight differences in nitrogen retention efficiencies were observed. The highest levels of energy retained in the form of protein were achieved at 28.5 and 30.2 g DP MJ DE^?1. The diet that provided the best growth, feed utilization and digestibility with minimal HSI contained 546 g kg^?1 protein (513 g kg^?1 DP), 114 g kg^?1 lipid, 164 g kg^?1 carbohydrate, 17.0 MJ kg DE^?1 and a DP DE^?1 ratio of 30.2 g DP MJ DE^?1.     

Estimating digestible protein requirements of silver perch, Bidyanus bidyanus Mitchell

In this study, we estimated requirements for digestible protein, using intact protein sources, at one digestible energy content. Using digestibility data for silver perch (Bidyanus bidyanus Mitchell) for a large number of ingredients, we formulated a ‘summit’ diet to contain between 1.4 and 1.8 times the ‘expected requirements’ for digestible essential amino acids (based on requirements for channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus Rafinesque). A ‘diluent’ diet was formulated to contain 0.4–0.5 times the expected requirements of digestible essential amino acids. Both ‘summit’ and ‘diluent’ diets contained similar digestible energy (14.7 MJ digestible energy kg^?1 for the summit and 13.4 MJ digestible energy kg^?1 for the diluent). Six diets were prepared with the following amounts of summit–diluent diets: 100:0, 80:20, 60:40, 40:60, 20:80 and 0:100. A practical diet widely used by commercial farmers was also included as a control. Ten juvenile fish (2.1–2.6 g) were stocked into each experimental 70‐L acrylic aquarium, and each dietary treatment was randomly assigned to five replicate aquaria. Fish were fed twice daily to apparent satiation for 54 days. Final individual fish weight ranged from 4–15.5 g. Results were analysed using intersecting linear regression analysis. The optimum digestible dietary protein for diets with 13.4–14.7 MJ digestible energy kg^?1, after which protein deposition did not increase significantly, was 28%. Although this study did not determine requirements for individual amino acids, for diets with the digestible energy content used here, requirements for individual amino acids obviously did not exceed the content in the 28% protein diet. These contents are useful as an estimate of ‘recommended levels’ for silver perch diets with 13.4–14.7 MJ digestible energy kg^?1. The proximate composition of fish was affected by diet. Whole body protein and moisture increased, whereas lipid content decreased with increasing dietary protein content (and increasing protein–energy ratio and decreasing lipid). Fish size was also affected by diet; however, the changes in whole carcass proximate composition also occurred for fish fed diets 60:40, 80:20 and the summit diet which were a similar final weight.     

Effect of dietary DP/DE ratio on apparent digestibility, growth and nitrogen and phosphorus retention in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus Mykiss (Walbaum)

The effect of DP/DE ratio in diets for rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), was investigated. To evaluate growth and body composition, groups of trout were fed three experimental diets with a constant level of gross energy (25.4 ± 0.12 MJ kg^?1 dry matter (DM)) and different digestible protein/digestible energy (DP/DE) ratios (diet A, 16. 35; diet B, 17.21; dietC, 18.23 g Mr^?1). Fat, protein and energy digestibility coefficients were not affected by the DP/DE ratio of the diets. Growth and feed utilization improved markedly as dietary DP/DE ratio increased (P < .01). The efficiency of fat, protein and energy utilization tended to increase with increasing DP/DE ratio of the diets. Nitrogen discharge in effluent water per kg of weight gain was not affected by dietary treatments (mean values for: diet A, 29.9; diet B, 29.8; diet C, 29.1 g N kg^?1 weight gain) while phosphorus discharge in effluent water fell using diets with a higher DP/DE ratio (mean values for: diet A, 7.3; diet B, 6.7; diet C, 5.9 g P kg^?1 weight gain).     

The influence of dietary protein and energy levels on growth, survival and thyroid hormone (T3 and T4) composition of Lates calcarifer larvae

Two growth trials were conducted to determine the effects of different dietary protein (450–550 g kg^?1) and energy contents (18–22 MJ kg^?1) on growth, survival and carcass thyroid hormone (T3 and T4) levels of barramundi (Lates calcarifer) larvae. Larvae fed diets containing 21 and 22 MJ kg^?1 dietary energy performed consistently better than those fed diets containing 18 and 19 MJ kg^?1 dietary energy in terms of final dry weight and total length, while those fed 20 MJ kg^?1 had intermediate values for both the parameters. No effects of dietary protein level were discernable from the physical parameters measured; however, larvae fed diets containing the lowest protein and energy combination (450 g kg^?1 protein/18 MJ kg^?1 energy) had significantly lower carcass T4 levels than larvae in all other treatments, except for those fed the 500 g kg^?1 protein/18 MJ kg^?1 diet, which had an intermediate value. The results indicate that the optimum diet for L. calcarifer larvae from 14 to 28 days after hatch should contain 500 g kg^?1 protein and a minimum of 21 MJ kg^?1 dietary energy. Carcass T4 content was influenced by macronutrient inclusion level, and correlated significantly with growth, described by the total length. Reduced T4 levels may indicate a depressed larval status in this species.     

The effect of dietary methionine concentrations on growth performance of juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fed diets with two different digestible energy levels

A growth trial was conducted to examine the effect of dietary digestible energy (DE) content on methionine (Met) utilization and requirement in juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Ten iso‐nitrogenous (288 g kg^?1 protein) practical diets, with two DE levels (10.9 MJ kg^?1; 12.4 MJ kg^?1) and five methionine supplementation levels (0, 1, 2, 4 and 6 g kg^?1), were hand‐fed twice daily to triplicate groups of Nile tilapia (initial body weight 8.95 ± 0.06 g) for 8 weeks. Weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) increased significantly with increasing dietary methionine concentration at the same DE content (P < 0.001). At the same dietary methionine level, WG and SGR of fish fed high‐DE diets were significantly higher than that of fish fed low‐DE diets (P = 0.0001), although no interaction was found between dietary DE and methionine supplementation. Based on quadratic regression analysis between dietary methionine concentration and weight gain, optimal methionine requirement for maximum growth, expressed as g Met required kg^?1 diet (low‐ versus high‐DE diets), increased as diet DE concentration increased (7.34 versus 9.90 g kg^?1 diet, respectively; with cysteine 4.70 g kg^?1 diet). The results indicated that diet DE content affects methionine utilization and requirement in juvenile Nile tilapia, fish fed high‐DE diets required more methionine for maximum growth.     

Substitution of fish meal by sesame oil cake (Sesamum indicum L.) in the diet of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss W.)

The present study evaluated the nutritional value of sesame oil cake (SOC) in rainbow trout fry (initial body weight of 1.42 g) in a growth trial performed for 45 feeding days at 15 ± 1 °C. A series of five isonitrogenous (380 g digestible protein kg^?1 dry matter (DM)) and isoenergetic (18.1 MJ digestible energy kg^?1 DM) diets were formulated in which the digestible SOC protein progressively replaced 0%, 13%, 26%, 39% and 52% of the digestible protein of a high quality fish meal (D0‐D52). Growth rate of fry significantly improved in fish fed SOC diets compared to the fishmeal control diet (D0) whatever the SOC inclusion level. This positive effect on growth was mainly related to a marked improvement of voluntary feed intake. The decrease of feed efficiency observed with increasing SOC was entirely explained by the reduction of DM and energy digestibilities with SOC incorporation. Nitrogen retention efficiency (nitrogen gain/nitrogen intake) was high (40–41%) and significantly reduced only in fish fed D52 (37%). Our results suggest that SOC can be a suitable protein source for a carnivorous fish and replace at least half of the fishmeal protein (without amino acid supplementation) without growth reduction in rainbow trout fry.     

Effect of dietary protein and lipid levels and protein to energy ratios on growth, survival and body composition of the mangrove red snapper, Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskal 1775)

The approximate levels of dietary protein and energy that would sustain good growth and survival of the mangrove red snapper Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskal) were determined in two feeding experiments. In the preliminary experiment, six fish meal‐based diets were formulated to contain three protein levels (35%, 42.5% and 50%) and two lipid levels (6% and 12%) for each protein, with dietary energy ranging from 14.6 MJ kg^?1 to 20.5 MJ kg^?1. The protein to energy (P/E) ratios of diets ranged from 20.6 mg protein kJ^?1 to 27.5 mg protein kJ^?1. Diets were fed for 100 days to triplicate groups of snappers with an average initial weight of 24.8 ± 0.4 g. No significant interaction between different levels of protein and lipid was observed. Survival rates (93.8% to 100%), feed conversion ratios (FCR) (2.61–3.06) and condition factors (K) were not affected by different dietary treatments. Regardless of lipid level, fish fed 50% protein diets had a significantly higher specific growth rate (SGR) than fish fed the 35% protein diets, but not compared with the 42.5% diets (P < 0.05). Increasing lipid to 12% in all protein levels resulted in no improvement in growth over the 6% level. Fish body moisture did not vary while lipid levels based on dry matter were high (27.9% to 33.7%). Snapper appear to require more than 40% dietary protein and a high dietary energy level for good growth. In the second experiment, fish (21.1 ± 0.1 g) in four replicate groups were fed for 94 days with three diets (39%, 44% and 49% protein with P/E ratios of 21.1, 23.3 and 25.5 mg protein kJ^?1 respectively) containing similar dietary energy levels of about 19 MJ kg^?1. Average final weight, SGR and FCR were significantly higher in diets containing 44% and 49% protein diets (P > 0.05). There were no differences in survival rates, protein efficiency ratio (PER) and nutrient composition of snapper flesh. All fish had fatty livers. Results indicated that the diet containing 44% protein with a P/E ratio of 23.3 mg protein kJ^?1 was optimum for snapper growth under the experimental conditions used in the study.     

Optimal protein requirements of young Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) fed practical diets

Young Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus (L.), mean weight 2.56 ± 0.02 g, were fed nine isoenergetic (?16.6 MJ digestible energy (DE) kg^?1) practical diets formulated to supply digestible crude protein (DCP) at 40g kg^?1 increments from 230 to 550g kg^?1, for 84 days. Mean weight gain (MWG) and specific growth rate (SGR) were determined every 14 days while carcass composition was determined at the start and end of the experiment. Growth responses attained the highest values in the fish fed the diet with 350 g kg^?1 DCP. Carcass moisture gain, protein gain and apparent net lipid accumulation increased as DCP levels increased to a maximum at 350 g kg^?1 after which there were no differences among treatments. Total carcass lipid and lipid gain decreased as dietary DCP increased up to 470 g kg^?1 with no differences thereafter. Apparent net protein accretion decreased with increasing DCP levels up to 350 g kg^?1 after which there were few differences among treaments. Protein requirements were estimated by fitting MWG and SGR data to broken line regression, quadratic and saturation kinetics models. Results from these analyses suggest that dietary DCP should be provided at between 340 and 392 g kg^?1 (equivalent to ?370 and 420g kg^?1 crude protein) for optimal growth of young Arctic charr reared in similar conditions.     

Polka dot grouper Cromileptes altivelis fingerlings require high protein and moderate lipid diets for optimal growth and nutrient retention

An 8‐week comparative slaughter experiment was carried out to determine the effect of dietary protein and lipid on growth, apparent digestibility (AD) and nutrient retention of polka dot grouper Cromileptes altivelis. Fingerlings were fed diets that varied in crude protein (CP) at 55 g kg^?1 increments between 410 and 630 g kg^?1 dry matter (DM) and at either a moderate (150 g kg^?1 DM) or high (240 g kg^?1DM) lipid concentration. Each diet was fed to satiety twice daily to four replicate tanks (110 L) of fish. One replicate block of tanks comprised 150 fish of mean (±SD) initial weight of 9.6 ± 0.29 g, which were distributed equally to 10 tanks. The other three replicate blocks of tanks comprised 300 fish of 12.6 ± 0.45 g, which were distributed equally to 30 tanks. Tanks were provided with filtered and heated (29 ± 0.5 °C) seawater in a flow‐through system within a laboratory where photoperiod was maintained at 12 : 12 h light–dark cycle. Voluntary food intake was not significantly affected by either the CP or lipid concentration of the diet (mean ± SD of 1.93 ± 0.146 g week^?1) but there was a trend for intake to be higher on the moderate compared with the high lipid diets (mean ± SEM of 1.97 versus 1.89 ± 0.033 gweek^?1, respectively). Daily growth coefficient (DGC) and food conversion ratio (FCR) improved linearly (P < 0.01) with increasing dietary CP (from 0.94 to 1.35% day^?1 for DGC and 1.58 to 1.00 g DM g^?1 wet gain for FCR) and these responses were almost coincident for each of the lipid series. The AD of CP increased linearly with increasing dietary CP (from 46.8 to 74.1%) and was independent of dietary lipid. Apparent digestibility of energy increased curvilinearly with increasing dietary CP, with the quadratic component being more prominent for the high‐lipid series. Increasing the amount of lipid in the diet markedly increased the lipid content of the fish from an initial composition (mean ± SD) of 173 ± 7.3 g kg^?1 to a final composition (mean ± SEM) of either 217 or 250 ± 5.9 g kg^?1 for moderate and high‐lipid series, respectively. Total body lipid content tended to increase linearly with increasing dietary CP for the high‐lipid series but with an opposite effect for the moderate‐lipid series. The retention of digestible nitrogen decreased linearly with increasing dietary CP but at a steeper rate for the moderate, compared with the high, lipid series (from 62.7 to 35.7%, slope ?0.115 for moderate‐lipid and 54.6 to 41.9%, slope ?0.050 for high‐lipid). A quadratic function of dietary CP concentration best explained the retention of digestible energy with the curvilinearity being more marked for the high, compared with the moderate, lipid diet series. While there was some indication that ingested lipid spared dietary protein, the results showed a far greater propensity of polka dot grouper fingerlings to use protein as the prime dietary energy source. Diets for juvenile polka dot grouper should contain not less than 440 g digestible protein kg^?1 DM and at least 150 g lipid kg^?1 DM.     

Dietary digestible lysine requirement and essential amino acid to lysine ratio for pacu Piaractus mesopotamicus

To determine the digestible lysine requirement for pacu juveniles, a dose–response feeding trial was carried out. The fish (8.66 ± 1.13 g) were fed six diets containing the digestible lysine levels: 6.8, 9.1, 11.4, 13.2, 16.1 and 19.6 g kg^?1 dry diet. The gradual increase of dietary digestible lysine levels from 6.8 to 13.2 g kg^?1 did not influence the average values of the parameters evaluated (P > 0.05). The increase of dietary digestible lysine level to 16.1 g kg^?1 significantly improved weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), protein productive value (PPV), protein efficiency rate (PER), and apparent feed conversion rate (FCR), but was not different from fish fed diets containing 19.6 g kg^?1 lysine. Fish fed diets containing 16.1 and 19.6 g kg^?1 digestible lysine showed lower body lipid contents than fish in the other treatments. The digestible lysine requirement as determined by the broken‐line model, based on average WG values, was 16.4 g kg^?1. The other essential amino acid requirements were estimated based on the ideal protein concept and the value determined for lysine.     

Effect of replacing fishmeal and oil with simple or complex mixtures of vegetable ingredients in diets fed to Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

The effect of replacing fishmeal with simple or complex mixtures of plant proteins in tilapia diets was examined. Diet formulations were arranged in a 2 × 4 factorial design with two types of plant protein mixtures used to replace fishmeal (simple: soybean meal and maize gluten meal or complex: soybean meal, maize gluten meal, dehulled flax, pea protein concentrate and canola protein concentrate) and four levels of protein originating from fishmeal (1000 g kg^?1, 670 g kg^?1, 330 g kg^?1 and 0 g kg^?1). Diets contained equal digestible protein (380 g kg^?1) and digestible energy (17.6 MJ kg^?1). The average daily gains, specific growth rates and feed efficiencies of fish fed diets with 0 g kg^?1 fishmeal were significantly lower than fish fed diets with the 330 g kg^?1, 670 g kg^?1 or 1000 g kg^?1 fishmeal levels. Fish fed the complex diets had significantly higher average daily gains, specific growth rates, feed : gain ratios and protein efficiency ratios than those fed the simple diets. Intestinal villus length decreased with decreasing levels of fishmeal and increased with increased diet complexity but the effects were not significant. Replacement of fishmeal with a complex mixture of plant ingredients may allow a greater replacement of fishmeal in diets fed to Nile tilapia.     

Protein requirement of silver barb, Puntius gonionotus fingerlings

Five iso‐energetic (15.05 MJ kg^?1) semi‐purified diets with graded levels of crude protein, i.e. 200 (D‐1), 250 (D‐2), 300 (D‐3), 350 (D‐4) and 400 (D‐5) g kg^?1 diet were fed to Puntius gonionotus fingerlings (average weight 0.88 ± 0.03 g) in triplicate groups (15 healthy fish per replicate) for a period of 90 days to determine the optimum protein requirement of the fish. Fifteen flow‐through cement tanks of 100‐L capacity with a flow rate of 0.5 L min^?1 were used for rearing the fish. Specific growth rate (SGR), food conversion (food gain) ratio (FCR), nutrient digestibility and retention, digestive enzyme activity, RNA : DNA ratio and tissue composition were used as response parameters with respect to dietary protein levels and feed intake. The mean weight gains of fish after 90 days were 10.84 ± 0.27, 11.07 ± 0.12, 14.09 ± 0.20, 11.27 ± 0.12 and 10.91 ± 0.25 g for D‐1, D‐2, D‐3, D‐4 and D‐5, respectively. Maximum SGR (3.13 ± 0.02% per day), RNA : DNA ratio (10.09 ± 0.09), tissue protein content (160 ± 0.1 g kg^?1 wet weight), protease activity (25.27 ± 0.47 μg of leucine liberated mg tissue per protein h^?1 at 37 °C) and minimum FCR (1.60 ± 0.02) was found in D‐3 group fed with 300 g kg^?1 protein level. All these parameters were negatively affected with the further increase in protein level in the diet. Digestibility of protein, lipid and energy was not affected because of variation in dietary protein levels and nitrogen intake of fish. Maximum energy retention (27.68 ± 0.12%) was recorded at 300 g kg^?1 dietary crude protein fed group. However, using broken line regression analysis, the maximum growth was found to be at 317.7 g kg^?1 dietary protein. Hence, it may be concluded that the protein requirement of P. gonionotus fingerling is 317.7 g kg^?1 diet with a resultant P/E ratio of 21.1 g protein MJ^?1.     

Effects of dietary carbohydrate on weight gain and gonad production in small sea urchins,Lytechinus variegatus

In experiment 1, juvenile sea urchins (n = 80, 0.088 ± 0.001 g wet weight and 5.72 ± 0.04 mm diameter) were held individually and fed ad libitum one of three semi‐purified formulated diets (n = 16 individuals treatment^?1). In the diets, protein was held constant (310 g kg^?1 dry, as fed) and carbohydrate level varied (190, 260, or 380 g kg^?1 dry, as fed). Wet weights were measured every 2 weeks. Total wet weight gain was inversely proportional to dietary carbohydrate level and energy content of the respective diet. In experiment 2, sea urchins (5.60 ± 0.48 g wet weight, n = 40) fed 190 g kg^?1 carbohydrate consumed significantly more dry feed than those fed 260 g kg^?1, but not more than those fed 380 g kg^?1 carbohydrate. Based on differential feed intake rates, sea urchins that consumed more feed also consumed higher levels of protein and had the highest weight gain. Consequently, protein content and/or protein: energy ratio may be important in determining feed utilization and growth among sea urchins in this study. The average digestible energy intake was approximately 70 kcal kg^?1 body weight day^?1, suggesting daily caloric intake of juvenile Lytechinus variegatus is lower than in shrimp and fish.     

Effects of dietary protein levels on the growth performance, digestive capacity and amino acid metabolism of juvenile Jian carp (Cyprinus carpio var. Jian)

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of protein levels on the growth performance, digestive capacity and amino acid metabolism of juvenile Jian carp. Brown fish meal was used as the sole protein source in the present study. Six isoenergetic experimental diets containing 14.4 MJ kg^?1 of digestible energy and 220–495 g crude protein kg^?1 diets were fed to triplicate groups of 50 fish with a mean initial weight of 16.67 ± 0.01 g for 45 days. Per cent weight gain (PWG) and feed efficiency ratio (FER) improved with an increase in the dietary protein levels up to 330 g kg^?1 diet. The condition factor, relative gut length, intestinal folds height, hepatopancreas and intestine protein content improved with an increase in the protein levels up to 330–385 g kg^?1 diet. Trypsin, creatinkinase, Na⁺, K⁺‐ATPase and alkaline phosphatase activities generally followed the same tendency as that of growth parameters. Amylase and γ‐glutamyl transpeptidase (γ‐GT) activities were negatively correlated with increasing protein levels from 220 to 330 g kg^?1 diet, and no differences were found thereafter. Lipase activity was unaffected by protein levels. Lactobacillus amount was increased with protein levels up to 275 g kg^?1 diet, while Aeromonas amount followed the opposite pattern. Escherichia coli amount was not influenced by dietary protein levels. Glutamate–oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) activities in the hepatopancreas and plasma ammonia concentration (PAC) were not influenced by protein levels between 220 and 275 g kg^?1 diet, but significantly increased with increasing protein levels from 275 to 440 g kg^?1 diet, and remained similar thereafter. Glutamate–pyruvate transaminase (GPT) activities significantly increased with protein levels >275 g kg^?1 diet. Based on the broken‐line model, the dietary protein requirement for PWG of Jian carp (16.7–55.0 g) was estimated to be 341 g kg^?1 diet with a digestible energy of 14.4 MJ kg^?1 diet.     

Nutritive value of partially dehulled and extruded sunflower meal for post-smolt Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in sea water

This study determined the digestibility of protein in partially dehulled sunflower meal (SFM) and then, as the main goal, the nutritive value of high‐temperature extruded (≤149°C) partially dehulled SFM (SFM_EX) for post‐smolt Atlantic salmon Salmo salar in sea water. The digestibility study was conducted using the settling column approach (‘Guelph system’) for faeces collection as described by Hajen, Higgs, Beames and Dosanjh. In the nutritive value study, triplicate groups of 50 salmon (mean weight ～116 g) in 4000‐L outdoor fibreglass tanks supplied with 25–40 L min^?1, filtered, oxygenated (dissolved oxygen, 7.0–8.5 mg L^?1), 11–12°C sea water (salinity, 29–31 g L^?1), were fed twice daily to satiation one of five steam‐pelleted dry diets that contained 422 g of digestible protein (DP) kg^?1 and ～16.4 MJ of digestible energy (DE) kg^?1 on a dry weight basis for 84 days. Low‐temperature‐dried anchovy meal (LT‐AM) comprised 68.2% of the basal diet protein whereas in four test diets, SFM_EX progressively replaced up to 33.0% of the DP provided by LT‐AM in the basal diet (SFM_EX≤271 g kg^?1 of dry matter). Sunflower meal had 87.9% DP. Diet treatment did not significantly affect specific growth rate (1.39–1.45% day^?1), feed efficiency (1.19–1.26), percentage of dietary protein retained (45.8–47.5), gross energy utilization (46.5–49.4%), per cent survival (96.0–99.3) or terminal whole body and muscle proximate compositions. We conclude that SFM_EX can comprise ≥271 g kg^?1 of the dry diet or ≥22.7% of the digestible dietary protein of post‐smolt Atlantic salmon in seawater without any adverse effects on their performance.     

The effect of protein levels on growth,postprandial excretion and tryptic activity of juvenile mullet Mugil platanus (Günther)

The objective of the present work was to determine the optimum dietary protein level for juvenile mullets. Five isocaloric diets were formulated to contain increasing levels (300, 350, 400, 450 and 500 g kg^?1) of crude protein (CP) corresponding to 18.7 MJ metabolizable energy kg^?1. All diets were tested in triplicate. Each experimental unit was composed of a 50 L tank with 50 juveniles (mean ± SE initial weight and length equal to 1.17 ± 0.02 g and 4.34 ± 0.03 cm respectively). Diets were offered five times a day until apparent satiation for 35 days. No significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in survival rate, feed efficiency and body composition between treatments. However, weight gain, feed consumption and specific growth rate were higher in fish fed the 350 g kg^?1 CP level than those fed the highest protein content diet (500 g kg^?1 CP). The amount of postprandial ammonia excreted by mullet was linearly related to protein intake. Intestinal tryptic activity was inversely proportional to the percentage of dietary CP. It is likely that diets containing <350 g kg^?1 CP will be needed for on‐growing mullet, especially when reared in ponds with abundant natural food.     

Growth performance and bone mineralization of large Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fed graded levels of available phosphorus

The effect of graded levels of dietary available phosphorus (AP) on large Nile tilapia (145.87 ± 9.51 g) performance, feed efficiency, body composition and mineral retention in vertebrae was evaluated. All male fish were distributed into three replicates in fiberglass aquaria (800 L each; 12 fish per tank) for 87 days and hand fed to pelletized diets three times a day until apparent satiation. Diets with approximately 302 g kg^?1 of digestible protein and 15.2 kJ g^?1 of digestible energy with graded levels of dibasic phosphate yield AP levels of 2.39, 4.17, 6.12 and 8.91 g kg^?1. At the end of the trial, feed intake, hepatosomatic index, fillet yield, whole body moisture and crude protein of fish fed 2.39–8.91 g kg^?1 of AP diets were not significantly different. The supplementation of 6.12 and 8.91 g kg^?1 of AP resulted in significantly increased weight gain, whole body ash and calcium. Whole body crude lipids significantly decreased with increasing AP from 6.12 to 8.91 g kg^?1. However, concentration of zinc in the vertebrae was not affected by dietary treatments. The magnesium contents of the fish vertebrae were lower in fish fed lower dietary AP level. No effects of the dietary AP on apparent digestibility coefficients of energy and nutrients were observed. The study indicated that the dietary AP level of at least 6.12 g kg^?1 satisfies the needs for growth performance, body composition and bone mineralization of large Nile tilapia.