Abstract
An 8âweek feeding test was conducted to quantify the dietary arginine requirement of juvenile largemouth bass (LMB) (25â±â0.4âg). Six isonitrogenous and isolipidic (459âg crude protein and 122âg crude lipid kgâ1 dry diet) diets were formulated to contain graded levels of arginine (17.0â30.1âgâkgâ1 dry diet). Zeinâcoated crystalline amino acid mixtures were supplemented to simulate, except for arginine, the amino acid profile of the muscle protein of LMB. Each diet was randomly assigned to quadruplicate tanks of 35 fish reared in a flowâthrough system. Fish were fed to apparent satiation twice daily. Weight gain (WG) was significantly affected by dietary arginine level. Nitrogen retention was significantly lower in fish fed D17.0. Arginine retention significantly decreased with dietary arginine increased. Threonine, leucine and lysine concentrations in whole body were significantly affected by dietary arginine level. Serum lysozyme activity, serum protein and respiratory burst of head kidney leucocytes were significantly affected, while complement activity (CH50) showed no difference among treatments. Based on brokenâline analysis for WG against dietary digestible arginine level, the arginine requirement of LMB was 19.1âgâkgâ1 of dry diet (41.6âgâkgâ1 of crude protein).
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