Effects of phospholipid addition to diets with different inclusion levels of fish oil on growth and fatty acid body composition of juvenile swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus

Six experimental diets were designed with two phospholipid (PL; 0% and 1.5%) and three fish oil levels (0%, 1% and 3%) to evaluate the effects of dietary fish oil and PL levels on growth, survival and fatty acid composition of juvenile swimming crab, Portunus trituberculatus. Diets were iso‐energetic and iso‐nitrogenous and each diet was fed to triplicate groups (initially weight, 24.88 ± 0.04 g per crab) for 59 days. Weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) increased with dietary PL addition to 0% fish oil‐supplemented diets (P < 0.05). On the other hand, WG and SGR decreased with dietary PL addition to 3% fish oil diets (P < 0.05). Crabs fed PL supplemented diets had higher haemolymph low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations and muscle crude lipid levels (P < 0.05) than crabs fed a none PL supplemented diet. The percentage of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA; % total FA) in both polar and neutral lipids fractions of muscle tissue only increased in case of PL addition to 0% and 1% fish oil‐supplemented diets (P < 0.05). HUFA levels in the neutral lipids fraction of the hepatopancreas increased by dietary PL addition at each dietary fish oil level (P < 0.05). In this study, both dietary fish oil and PL addition contributed to a high n‐3/n‐6 ratio in muscle and hepatopancreas of P. trituberculatus. In conclusion, PL addition is only meaningful with fish oil‐deficient diets, in which case it enhanced lipid transport and HUFA absorption efficiency, hence improving the nutritional value of the diet.