A Standard Reference Diet for Crustacean Nutrition Research. I. Evaluation of Two Formulations

An international cooperative effort to evaluate two possible Standard Reference Diets (SRD) for crustaceans was initiated at an informal discussion on crustacean nutrition during the 1984 World Mariculture Society (WMS) meeting in Vancouver, B.C. One diet, BML 81 S, was developed at the Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California, Davis. The other, HFXCRD 84, was developed at the Halifax laboratory, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada. Details of the formulation, preparation and proximate composition of the diets are provided. Both of these diets, which had been used to culture lobster, Homarus sp., were compared with the usual control diets of several research teams from different countries in feeding trials with many different species of crustaceans including freshwater and marine shrimp, prawn, lobster, crayfish and crab.
The preliminary data on growth and survival of Pandalus danae, Penaeus monodon, P. stylirostris, P. vannamei, P. brasiliensis, P. setiferus, P. aztecus and Homarus americanus suggest that either BML 81 S or HFX CRD 84 would be an acceptable SRD for these species. The only species tested that would not accept either diet were Panulirus argus and Cherux tenuimanus . Use of an SRD will provide a more accurate assessment of non-nutritional growth factors and permit comparisons among laboratories, species and experiments.     

THE EFFECTS OF FATTY ACID AND SHRIMP MEAL COMPOSITION OF PREPARED DIETS ON GROWTH OF JUVENILE SHRIMP,Penaeus stylirostris

Pelletized diets containing different amounts of sun-dried shrimp meal and brewer's yeast were tested. A relationship was observed between the content of shrimp meal and brewer's yeast in the diets and increased growth of juvenile shrimp, Penaeus stylirostris. Data suggested that in feeds containing 5% squid meal, up to half the shrimp meal can be replaced by brewer's yeast. These feeds should thus contain at least 15% shrimp meal and less than 15% brewer's yeast. A quadratic correlation was found between the rate of growth of juvenile shrimp and the percentage of linoleic acid in the diets. The best nutritional response should be obtained in rations containing 14.5% linoleic acid. The same type of relation was observed for the ratio of the linolenic series (ω3)/linoleic acid (106) with the ratio of 1.18 giving the best nutritional response for the diets tested in this study.     

饲料中添加浒苔对凡纳滨对虾生长性能和肌肉品质的影响

为了探究在不同鱼粉含量的饲料中添加浒苔对凡纳滨对虾的生长性能和肌肉品质的影响,实验采用2×3双因子实验设计,在鱼粉含量分别为18％(A)和15％ (B)的基础饲料中添加0、3％和6％浒苔(分别记为A0、A3、A6、B0、B3和B6),制成6组等氮等能饲料(粗蛋白含量为38.5％).饲喂初始体质量为(3.0±0.1)g的...     

Effect of dietary protein levels on growth of Penaeus stylirostris juveniles

The shrimp Penaeus stylirostris is currently produced on a commercial scale in Tahiti and New Caledonia. Both super-intensive (80 animals m⁻²) and semi intensive (25 m⁻²) systems are promoted. Locally produced commercial feed contains 380–400 g kg⁻¹ crude protein (CP) without special consideration for environmental impact. The need for a 'low pollution' diet implies reconsideration of the optimum dietary protein level for this species. Under experimental conditions, six isoenergetic practical diets ranging from 270 g kg⁻¹ to 440 g kg⁻¹ CP were formulated and fed to satiation for 30 days to juvenile P. stylirostris ; average growth rates were between 5.5 and 7.5 g per month with survival rates > 90%.
The lowest protein levels 270–310 g kg⁻¹, gave significantly ( P < 0.05) poorer growth (5.5 g per 30 days) than was observed with 330–430 g kg⁻¹ CP; 330 g kg⁻¹ CP may be recommended, and as it is lower than levels in diets used currently, there is a possibility of reducing nitrogenous waste. In addition to growth response, protein efficiency ratio, protein productive value and food conversion (feed/gain) all supported a recommended dietary protein level of 330 g kg⁻¹. Future prospects for practical feeds with even lower CP levels are considered.     

Response of Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides to Dietary Supplementation of Lysine, Methionine, and Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acids

Abstract.— A 12-wk feeding trial was conducted in aquaria with juvenile (36.0 ± 1.2 g) largemouth bass Microptents salmoides to examine the effects of dietary supplementation of methionine, lysine, and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on growth, feed conversion and body composition. Diets were formulated to increase dietary concentrations of methionine. lysine, and PUFAs to match levels found in whole body samples of largemouth bass. The control diet was formulated similar to diets previously tested for largemouth bass. Diets 2 and 3 were similar to the control diet hut were supplemented with 2% lysine and 1% methionine, respectively. Diet 4 was formulated to increase PUFAs, especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (22:6n-3), by replacing menhaden fish oil with squid oil. Fish were fed all they would consume in 10 min, twice daily. At harvest, there were no statistically significant differences ( P > 0.05) in average individual weight or specific growth rate (SGR) among fish fed the four diets. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) of largemouth bass fed the diet supplemented with methionine (1.7) was significantly lower ( P ≤ 0.05) than fish fed the control diet (2.5). Fish fed the diet high in PUFA had significantly lower ( P ≤ 0.05) whole body lipid levels and significantly higher ( P ≤ 0.05) protein levels than fish fed the other three diets. These data indicate that the control diet in this study likely contained sufficient lysine, methionine and PUFA to meet the requirements of largemouth bass; however, additional methionine may improve feed conversion efficiency, and increased levels of PUFAs or other factors in squid oil may have a significant impact on body composition.     

Feed intake and growth performance of Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis Kaup, 1858) fed diets with partial replacement of fish meal with plant proteins

To be able to study nutrient requirement and utilization in any species, a diet supporting normal feed intake and growth equally well as a traditional fish meal‐based diet is needed. Additionally the formulation of the diet should allow low levels of the nutrient under study. When studying the amino acid metabolism and requirements, one cannot rely on the fish meal‐based diets as fish meal are nicely balanced according to requirements. Therefore the current study aimed to develop a plant protein‐based diet (with low fish meal inclusion) to be used in the nutritional studies of Senegalese sole juveniles supporting feed intake and growth close to that obtained in a fish meal‐based control feed. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate whether Senegalese sole juveniles would accept and utilize diets containing high plant protein inclusion. For testing the acceptance of high plant protein inclusion, two diets were formulated: a reference diet that contained fish meal as the main protein source (450 g kg^?1 dry matter) whereas in the test diet, fish meal was substituted by a mixture of plant ingredients (soybean meal, corn and wheat gluten) with l ‐lysine supplementation. In order to improve the palatability, 50 g kg^?1 squid meal was added to both diets. The indispensable amino acids (IAA) profile of the test diet was made similar to the control diet by adding crystalline amino acids. Further, automatic feeders were used to improve the feed intake. Fish (24 g initial body weight) were fed the diets for a period of 4 weeks. As fish accepted both diets equally well, a second study was undertaken to test the growth performance. Fish (6 g initial BW) were fed the diets for a period of 12 weeks. The use of automatic feeders to deliver the feed and the addition of both squid and balancing the indispensable amino acids resulted in growth performance and accretion not differing from the fish meal fed control. It can be concluded that juvenile Senegalese sole are able to grow and utilize high plant‐protein diets when both diet composition and feeding regime are adequate for this species.     

Replacement of Soybean Meal by Lupin Meal in Practical Diets for Juvenile Penaeus monodon

The potential of lupin meal as an alternative protein source to soybean meal in isonitrogenous practical diets for the juvenile black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon was evaluated through the studies of growth, digestibility and pellet water stability. Five isonitrogenous diets were formulated to contain 40% protein. Protein from dehulled Lupinus albus seed meal replaced 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of the protein from defatted soybean in the diets. Juvenile P. monodon (4.35 × 0.31 g) were assigned randomly and fed each test diet at a daily feeding rate of 5 % body weight for 42 d in triplicate tanks equipped with a flow-through sea water system. No statistically significant differences were observed in weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein conversion efficiency and apparent protein utilization of shrimp fed diets with 0, 25, and 50% replacement. Shrimp fed the diet with total replacement of soybean meal by lupin meal had the poorest performance (P < 0.05) with regard to the above parameters. Survival was similar (87%) for all dietary treatments. The apparent dry matter digestibility and apparent protein digestibility were similar for all diets ranging between 70.5 and 72.8% and 89.7 and 90.8%, respectively. There was no significant difference in whole body composition (dry matter, lipid, protein and ash) of shrimp on the various diets. The poorest pellet water stability was displayed by the diet with 100% replacement while the diet containing a combination of soybean meal and lupin meal (50% replacement) was the most stable. The results have demonstrated that dehulled lupin seed L. albus meal has good potential as a substitute protein source for up to 50% of the protein from defatted soybean meal and could be included up to 17% inclusion level in juvenile P. monodon practical diets with no adverse effects on growth, feed intake, FCR, survival, feed utilization, body composition, and digestibility coefficients of dry matter and protein.     

Differences in larval growth among families of Penaeus stylirostris Stimpson and P. vannamei Boone

Abstract. Full-sib families of Penaeus stylirostris Stimpson and Penaeus vannamei Boone were grown under controlled conditions in five experiments. Total length of shrimp larvae was measured at the following substages: protozoea one, mysis one and postlarva one. Analysis of variance showed that families differed significantly in size in all experiments at all substages tested. The average size possessed by a group of larvae early in development was significantly correlated with the size obtained in the later stages in P. siylirosiris , but not in P. vannamei . The component of variance in size due to family differences was determined and used to estimate heritabilities of size at the three larval substages in both species. Estimated heritabilities were higher for P. stylirostris than P. vannamei . In P. vannamei . the hcritability of size is greater for the protozoea and postlarval stages than the mysis stage.     

Dietary potassium requirement of juvenile grass shrimp Penaeus monodon

ABSTRACT: A feeding trial was conducted to estimate the minimal dietary potassium (K) requirement for juvenile grass shrimp Penaeus monodon . Purified diets with seven levels (0, 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, 1.2, 1.5, 2.0 g/100 g) of supplemental potassium were fed to P. monodon (mean initial weight 0.75 ± 0.01 g) for 8 weeks. Each diet was fed to three replicate groups of shrimp. The rearing water contained 360 mg/L potassium. Weight gain and protein efficiency ratio (PER) of shrimp improved as dietary potassium supplementation level increased up to 1.5 g K/100 g diet and thereafter declined significantly ( P < 0.05). Feed efficiency (FE) of shrimp also showed a similar trend. However, whole body K concentration of the shrimp kept an increasing trend up to 2.0 g K/100 g diet. Analysis of the weight gain (percent) and PER of the shrimp by polynomial regression indicate that the minimal dietary potassium requirement in growing P. monodon is approximately 1.2 g/100 g.     

Comparison of different types and levels of commercial soybean lecithin supplemented in semipurified diets for juvenile Litopenaeus vannamei Boone

Two 6-week growth trials were conducted to determine the dietary phospholipids (PL) requirement of Litopenaeus vannamei juveniles and to compare the effect of different types of soybean lecithin on shrimp growth and survival. In the first trial, a basal diet and diets containing 1.5, 3 or 5% (dry-weight basis) of Type I lecithin (97.6% PL) and 1.5 or 3% of Type II lecithin (71.4% PL) were evaluated. In the second trial, the basal diet and diets containing 1, 2 or 4% of either Type I or Type II lecithin and 1 or 2% of Type III lecithin (48.4% PL) were evaluated. Results showed that there was no interaction between lecithin type and PL level on shrimp growth or survival. Shrimp growth increased with PL levels up to 3–5% of diet. No significant differences were observed for instantaneous growth rate (IGR) of shrimp fed the different types of lecithin at the same inclusion level, and no effect of PL level and lecithin type on shrimp survival was found. Thus, the recommended level of PL supplementation in diets for L. vannamei juveniles ranges from 3 to 5% of diet.     

Taurine Supplementation of All-plant Protein Diets for Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Abstract.— Taurine has been demonstrated to be conditionally indispensable for several carnivorous fish species. Current trends in trout production include decreasing levels of fish-meal content in feeds, along with faster growing strains of fish. Taurine may be a limiting nutrient in support of elevated planes of growth for rainbow trout. A 9-wk feeding trial was conducted using a factorial treatment design with protein source (fish meal or plant) and taurine supplementation (four levels) as the main effects. The fish-meal diet series included 23% herring meal and contained 1.76% total sulfur amino acids (TSAA). The plant diet series did not contain any animal proteins and substituted protein from soy protein concentrate in place of the herring-meal protein and contained 1.5% TSAA. Taurine was supplemented at 0, 5, 10, and 15 g/kg dry diet to each of the diets in the plant series and the fish-meal series of diets. All diets were formulated to contain 43.8% crude protein and 20% lipid with an estimated physiological fuel value of 4.2 kcal/g. Fifteen fish were stocked in each of 24 tanks with a mean initial weight of approximately 26.8 g per fish. The unsupplemented fish-meal diet contained 2 g/kg taurine, and the unsupplemented plant diet had taurine levels below the detection limit of 0.1 g/kg diet. Taurine supplementation improved growth, feed conversion ratios, protein retention efficiencies, and energy retention efficiencies of fish fed the plant protein diets. No effects of taurine supplementation were observed for these response factors in fish fed the fish-meal series diets. This study demonstrates that taurine supplementation may be necessary for rainbow trout fed plant-protein-based feeds.     

The effect of dietary lipid and lecithin levels on the growth, survival, feeding efficiency, production and carcass composition of post-larval Penaeus monodon Fabricius

Abstract. Eight semi-purified diets were formulated to investigate the effects of dietary lipid and lecithin levels on the performance and carcass composition of post-larval Penaeus monodon Fabricius.
Supplementary soyabean lecithin levels from 0 to 9% and total dietary lipid (cod liver oil:soyabean oil at a ratio of 3:1) levels from 3·5 to 12·5% at 3% increments were tested in diets that were isonitrogenous and isoenergetic. The diets were fed for 50 days to triplicate groups of post-larval P. monodon held in a laboratory marine recirculated water system.
Despite poor overall performance due to the purified dietary ingredients, the absence of basal lipids and/or lecithin was found to result in the poorest performance. Optimum production was obtained with a diet containing 3% basal lipid and 3% lecithin at a total lipid level of 6·5%. The addition of dietary lecithin (particulariy at 46·63% of the total lipid) at up to 3% in terms of growth, feeding efficiency and production or 6% in terms of survival significantly ( P < 0·05) increased shrimp production. Lecithin was therefore probably acting as a growth, survival and/or phago-stimulant in P. monodon.
The total lipid requirements are consistent with those reported by other workers for penaeid shrimp, and are probably a result of the requirement for essential fatty acids, the stimulant properties of lecithin and the calorigenic effects of high dietary lipid levels.     

Egg Water Induced Reaction and Biostain Assay of Sperm from Marine Shrimp Penaeus vannamei: Dietary Effects on Sperm Quality

Reproductive performance was evaluated for sexually mature male Penueus vannamei fed one of four diets: 1) commercial 40% protein shrimp growout diet; 2) 100% squid; 3) 50% squid, 25% bloodworms and 25% Artemia; and 4) starvation. Spermatophores were ejaculated manually from tagged males at stocking and every 12 d thereafter. For each half of the compound spermatophore, weight and sperm count were determined. Four methods were used to assay the sperm quality: 1) gross morphology (GM); 2) trypan blue stain (TB); 3) acridine orange stain (AO); and 4) egg water induced reaction (EW). The reaction induced when P. vannamei sperm are exposed to conspecific egg water is grossly similar to that observed in vivo at the surface of the freshly spawned eggs from naturally mated females. Little correlation was found between spermatophore weight and sperm count. The best correlation was found between GM and AO (r²= 0.859, P < 0.01). Many morphologically abnormal sperm did not stain with TB. For most of the spermatophores evaluated; over 80% of the sperm were morphologically normal, were unstained with TB, and were immediately fluorescing light green when stained with AO. When exposed to egg water, sperm from these apparently good quality spermatophores yielded mixed results. The analysis of dietary effects on spermatophore quality were equivocal. Although a significant decline in body weight, spermatophore weight, and sperm count were observed in the starvation treatment as compared to maturation and squid diets, no significant differences were observed in MY of the sperm quality assays.     

Effects of dietary protein sources on growth,survival and digestive capacity of Octopus maya juveniles (Mollusca: Cephalopoda)

We propose two hypotheses to explain the inexistence of adequate prepared diet for Octopus maya at this date: Hypothesis 1 is related to changes in protein structure during protein cooking, which affects the digestibility. Hypothesis 2 is related to changes on nutritional characteristics during ingredient process, which affects the nutritional composition of diet. To test hypothesis 1, experiments one and two were directed to determine if protein cooking reduces digestibility and growth of animals when compared to fresh or lyophilized protein sources. For hypothesis 2, three experiments were conducted, testing seven different dietary protein sources offered in isolation or combined in artificial diets fed to O. maya. Results demonstrated that the diets that promoted growth were the ones based on fresh crab paste, and both lyophilized crab and squid tentacles paste. In consequence hypothesis 1 was accepted. The cooking process also changed nutritional characteristics of protein sources, affecting the growth of O. maya. Results obtained when squid and crab were mixed suggest that nutritional requirements of octopuses were covered with that diet in similar forms compared to when using fresh or lyophilized crab, also confirming hypothesis 2. Based on growth rates obtained, we can conclude that nutritional requirements of O. maya must be between 80% and 86% Protein (P), 5.1–5.6% Lipids and a protein: energy ratio between (P/E) 38.9 and 42.2 g MJ^?1.     

家蝇抗菌肽对凡纳滨对虾生长性能及免疫相关指标的影响

通过8周的生长实验研究了饲料中添加家蝇幼虫抗菌肽提取物对初始体质量为(0.86±0.01)g的凡纳滨对虾(Litopenaeus vannamei)的生长性能、体成分及免疫相关指标的影响。家蝇抗菌肽提取物添加量分别为0、1000mg/kg、2000mg/kg、3000mg/kg、4000mg/kg、5000mg/kg,每组饲料设4个重复,每个重复饲养40尾虾。结果显示,在一定添加水平范围内,家蝇抗菌肽能显著提高凡纳滨对虾成活率、增重率、特定生长率、饲料效率(P0.05),当抗菌肽提取物添加量为2000～3000mg/kg时,以上4个指标均达最高,且显著高于对照组(P0.05)。以增重率为评价指标,凡纳滨对虾饲料中家蝇抗菌肽提取物的最适添加量为2900mg/kg。当抗菌肽提取物添加量为2000～3000mg/kg时能显著提高虾体的粗蛋白和灰分含量,虾体粗脂肪不受添加抗菌肽水平的显著影响。添加2000～5000mg/kg抗菌肽提取物组与对照组相比能显著提高对虾血细胞数量;添加3000mg/kg抗菌肽提取物时对虾血细胞吞噬率最高。当抗菌肽提取物添加量为2000～3000mg/kg时,对虾血清中酚氧化酶PO、过氧化物酶POD、碱性磷酸酶AKP、溶菌酶LZM的活性和总抗氧化能力T-AOC均维持在一个较高的水平,且显著高于对照组;超氧化物歧化酶SOD的活性在各组组间差异不显著(P0.05)。肝胰腺中AKP、SOD、T-AOC活性各组间差异均不显著(P0.05);LZM活性以3000mg/kg组最高,显著高于其他组。结果表明,饲料中添加适量的家蝇抗菌肽对凡纳滨对虾有一定的促生长作用,并能提高对虾的免疫相关指标。     

The effects of dietary protein levels with amino acid supplementation on the growth performance,haematological profile and histology of meagre (Argyrosomus regius) in two different size classes

A 12‐week feeding trial was conducted to estimate the effects of supplemented amino acids (lysine and methionine) with different dietary protein levels on growth, haematology and liver histology in meagre (Argyrosomus regius) at two different sizes: fingerling (15.2 g) and juvenile (44.4 g). Six practical diets were prepared, and three of these practical diets were formulated with 40 (P40), 44 (P44) and 48% (P48) crude protein without supplementation of amino acids. Other three diets having same protein levels were supplemented with lysine and methionine (P40AA, P44AA and P48AA) to bring these amino acids level up to that estimated to be at the least in the 48% protein diet. Final mean weight (FMW) and specific growth rate (SGR) of P48AA in fingerlings were higher than that of 40AA. According to FMW and SGR of juveniles, there was interaction found between dietary protein levels and the supplementation of amino acids. The FMW and SGR of meagre fed P44AA were higher than that of fish fed the other diets, except fish fed the P48. Economic profit index, packed cell volume and haemoglobin for juvenile meagre were significantly improved with the dietary protein level and amino acid supplementation. The liver tissues of the P48 group in both sizes displayed better structure compared with the other groups. In conclusion, dietary crude protein content of practical diets for juvenile meagre could be reduced from 48% to 44% by adding essential amino acids with an enhancement in growth, health and economic profit.     

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.     

Effects of dietary phytase supplementation on growth performance and apparent digestibility coefficients of Pacific White Shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

A growth trial and a digestibility trial were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of phytase supplemented to practical shrimp feeds. The 5 weeks growth trial evaluated the effects of phytase supplementation in replete phosphorus (P) diets on the performances and compositions of juvenile Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. No significant differences were observed in final biomass, final mean weight, weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein retention and survival across all the treatments. Shrimp reared on the P deficient diet had significantly higher P retention and lower whole body P levels as compared to shrimp fed the other diets. Copper content in the whole shrimp body was significantly increased in the treatment supplemented with 1,000 IU kg^?1 feed phytase. The digestibility trial was conducted to study the combined effects of phytase supplementation levels and diet type (plant‐based versus fishmeal‐based) on apparent digestibility coefficients of Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. There were no effects of diet type so the data was combined. Phytase incorporation at both 500 and 2,000 IU kg^?1 significantly improved protein digestibility, whereas P digestibility was enhanced when 2,000 IU kg^?1 phytase was supplemented to the diet. Apparent digestibility coefficients of alanine, arginine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, ornithine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, tyrosine and valine were significantly increased when fed diets contained 500 and 2,000 IU kg^?1 phytase supplementation. Results of this work demonstrate that under the conditions of the study growth was not enhanced by phytase supplementation in P replete diets. However, nutrient retention for Cu and digestibility of P, protein and a number of amino acids were enhanced.     

Phototrophic Bacteria as Feed Supplement for Rearing Penaeus monodon Larvae

Larvae of the giant tiger prawn Penaeus monodon were reared from the naupliar to pos-tlarval stage, based on a diet of waste-grown phototrophic bacterium Rhodovulum sulfido-philum , the marine diatom Skeletonema costatum , and brine shrimp Artemia The experimental design consisted of feeding the protozoea with diatoms and varying proportions of bacterial biomass as diet D0 (0%), D1 (1%), D2 (2%), D3 (3%), and D5 (5%), while mysis and postlarvae were fed the above diet supplemented with Artemia nauplii. Controls were not fed with bacteria biomass (diet D0). The addition of R. sulfidophilum biomass in the diet had significant effects on the growth and survival of P. monodon larvae. In the first experiment, the larvae fed with diet D1 ( Skeletonema + 1% R. sulfidophilum ) reached the first postlarval stage (PL1) on the ninth day of feeding and had a mean total length (TL) of 6.13 ± 0.05 mm, which was significantly higher ( P < 0.001) than TL of larvae fed with the other three diets. In another experiment, prawn larvae fed with diet D2 had the highest overall survival of 46% and a significantly larger mean TL of 6.88 ± 0.18 mm at PL1 compared to larvae fed with diet D0 and D3 ( P > 0.05). However, in both experiments prawn larvae fed with the various diets showed significant differences in their length-at-stage ( P > 0.05), and the lowest growth and survival were obtained from diets comprising 3% and 5% bacterial biomass, which also gave the highest levels of ammonia-nitrogen in the culture water. Addition of more than 2% R. sulfidophilum biomass apparently deteriorates the quality of the culture water.     

Effect of varying dietary lipid and protein levels on growth and reproductive performance of female swordtails Xiphophorus helleri (Poeciliidae)

We conducted a study to determine the effect of dietary protein and lipid levels on the growth and reproductive performance of a freshwater ornamental species, the swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri). Two protein levels (20% and 30%) with four lipid levels (8%, 12%, 16%, 20%) within each protein levels were tested through formulation of practical diets labelled as 20P8L, 20P12L, 20P16L, 20P20L, 30P8L, 30P12L, 30P16L and 30P20L respectively. Results showed that dietary protein level significantly influenced final weight, weight gain and specific growth rate, while dietary lipid did not influence any of these growth parameters. More specifically, increasing dietary lipid levels from 8% to 12–16% in both 20% and 30% protein levels significantly improved swordtail growth performance. Dietary protein levels positively influenced gonadosomatic and hepatosomatic indexes. Both dietary protein and lipid significantly influenced female muscle protein content. Significantly highest fry production was obtained from diets 30P12L and 30P16L, respectively, while diet 20P8L resulted in the lowest fry production. This present study indicates the dietary protein and lipid requirements for female swordtails for optimized growth and reproductive performances to be at 30% and 12% respectively.