Growth and haematology of pacu, Piaractus mesopotamicus, fed diets with varying protein to energy ratio |
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Authors: | Á lvaro José de Almeida Bicudo,Ricardo Yuji Sado,& José Eurico Possebon Cyrino |
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Affiliation: | Departamento de Zootecnia, Setor de Piscicultura, Universidade de São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil |
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Abstract: | Haematopoiesis and blood cells' functions can be influenced by dietary concentration of nutrients. This paper studied the effects of dietary protein:energy ratio on the growth and haematology of pacu, Piaractus mesopotamicus . Fingerling pacu (15.5±0.4 g) were fed twice a day for 10 weeks until apparent saciety with diets containing 220, 260, 300, 340 or 380 g kg−1 crude protein (CP) and 10.88, 11.72, 12.55, 13.39, 14.22 MJ kg−1 digestible energy (DE) in a totally randomized experimental design, 5 × 5 factorial scheme ( n =3). Weight gain and specific growth rate were affected ( P <0.05) by protein level only. Protein efficiency ratio decreased ( P <0.05) with increasing dietary protein at all levels of dietary energy. Daily feed intake decreased ( P <0.05) with increasing dietary energy. Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration was affected ( P <0.05) by DE and interaction between dietary CP and DE. Total plasma protein increased ( P <0.05) with dietary protein and energy levels. Plasma glucose decreased ( P <0.05) with increasing dietary protein. The CP requirement and optimum protein:energy ratio for weight gain of pacu fingerlings, determined using broken-line model, were 271 g kg−1 and 22.18 g CP MJ−1 DE respectively. All dietary CP and DE levels studied did not pose damages to fish health. |
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Keywords: | Piaractus mesopotamicus haematological parameters biochemical parameters non-protein energy protein requirement |
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