Effects of Different Diets on the Growth,Survival, and Nutritional Composition of Juvenile Cuttlefish,Sepia pharaonis

The aim of this experiment was to determine the optimal initial food for hatchling cuttlefish and to investigate the influence of dietary composition on the growth, survival, and nutritional composition of cultured juvenile cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis. Six experimental food groups were designated: Artemia nauplii, Calanus sinicus, frozen Hyperacanthomysis brevirostris, Ampithoe valida, H. brevirostris, and subadult Artemia. The results showed that survival, growth body biochemical composition of juvenile cuttlefish were significantly affected by experimental diets (P < 0.05). The optimum initial food was H. brevirostris, yielding a growth rate as high as 6.39%/d and survival rate reaching 81%. Growth rate was significantly positively correlated with dietary protein, Lys, Met, Phe, Iie, Leu, Trp, Arg, Gly, Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and 16:0 (P < 0.05). Survival was significantly positively correlated with dietary protein, Lys, Met, Phe, Val, Thr, Iie, Leu, Trp, Arg, Gly, EPA, DHA, and 16:0 (P < 0.05). The dietary protein, lipid, Met, Val, Thr, Leu, 18:0, and EPA were prone to accumulation within the body of juvenile cuttlefish (P < 0.05). These results demonstrate that juvenile cuttlefish exhibited the best growth rates and survival when fed a diet that supplied high‐protein, low‐fat, and larger quantities of Lys, Met, Phe, Val, Thr, Iie, Leu, Trp, Arg, Gly, EPA, DHA, and 16:0.