Effects of dietary squid viscera meal on growth and cadmium accumulation in tissues of large yellow croaker, Pseudosciaena crocea R.

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic environmental pollutant with a long biological half-life and can produce both hepatic and renal injuries in mammals and fish. Squid viscera meal (SVM), an effective attractant for aquatic animals, is widely used as an ingredient in aquafeeds. However, SVM is rich in Cd and its complexes. A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary SVM on the growth and Cd deposition in the tissues of large yellow croaker, Pseudosciaena crocea R. Three practical diets were formulated to contain a 0, 50 and 100 g · kg⁻¹ SVM diet, correspondingly containing a 0.21, 7.26 and 12.08 mg Cd · kg⁻¹ diet. Each diet was randomly assigned to triplicate groups of 100 juveniles of large yellow croaker (mean initial weight, 9.75 ± 0.35 g) in floating sea cages (1.0 m × 1.0 m × 1.5 m). Fish were fed twice daily (05:00 and 17:00) to satiation for 8 weeks. The results showed that there were no significant differences in fish survival among the three dietary treatments, but significant higher specific growth rates (SGR) were observed in the fish fed diets with 50 or 100 g · kg⁻¹ SVM diet compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The cadmium concentrations in fish tissues (muscle, liver, kidney and gill) were significantly influenced by the dietary SVM. The cadmium concentrations in all tissues significantly increased with increasing dietary Cd levels (P < 0.05). In all the dietary treatments, the highest Cd level was always observed in the kidney, followed by the liver and the gill. Fish fed diets with 50 and 100 g · kg⁻¹ SVM had significantly higher Cd accumulations in the kidney (2.65, 4.44 mg · kg⁻¹), liver (0.58, 0.93 mg · kg⁻¹) and gill (0.35, 0.53 mg · kg⁻¹) compared with the control group (0.42, 0.26 and 0.12 mg · kg⁻¹, respectively). The Cd level in fish muscle, however, was undetectable in all treatments. Therefore, based on these results, accumulation of Cd in edible tissue (muscle) of farmed large yellow croaker is not a food safety issue. However, long-term feeding of diets with SVM may result in accumulation of Cd in the kidney, liver and gills of fish.