Comparison of diet composition,feeding, growth and health of lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus L.) fed either feed blocks or pelleted commercial feed

Two duplicate groups of individually tagged lumpfish (mean initial weight: 21.5 ± 3.2 g) were fed either a commercially available lumpfish feed or feed blocks for a period of 123 days. The aim was to evaluate and compare the effects of these feed types on growth, cataract development and histopathology in lumpfish. There were significant differences in growth rates between the groups with fish fed pelleted feed having the highest growth rates. The development of cataracts was significantly different with fish fed pelleted feed having a cataract prevalence of 87% at the end of the study period whilst fish fed with feed blocks had 10% prevalence. The results of the histological examination undertaken in this study showed overall small differences between the two dietary treatments. In some individuals in groups receiving both diets, there was mild to moderate expansion of the lamina propria with tissue most likely to represent fibrous tissue with scattered leucocytes. Overall, the findings of the present study show that lumpfish will readily graze from feed blocks and although growth is lower the prevalence of cataract is greatly reduced using feed blocks.