Effects of Dietary Nutrient Composition on Compensatory Growth of Grower Olive Flounder Paralichthys olivaceus under Different Feeding Regimes at Suboptimal Temperature

Abstract

The effects of dietary nutrient composition on compensatory growth of grower olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) under different feeding regimes at suboptimal temperature were determined. Four hundred five fish weighing 271.2 g were distributed into 27 300 L flow-through tanks (15 fish per tank). Nine treatments were prepared in triplicate: fish were hand-fed with control (C) diet for 12 weeks (12WF-C); four groups of fish were starved for 1 week and then fed C, high-protein (HP), high-lipid (HL), or combined high-protein and high-lipid (HPL) diets for 11 weeks; these groups are referred to as 11WF-C, 11WF-HP, 11WF-HL, and 11WF-HPL, respectively. Four other groups of fish were starved for 2 weeks and then fed C, HP, HL, and HPL diets for 10 weeks; these groups are referred to as 10WF-C, 10WF-HP, 10WF-HL, and 10WF-HPL, respectively. Weight gain and specific growth rate of fish from 12WF-C group were greater than those of fish from 11WF-C, 11WF-HP, 11WF-HL, 10WF-C, 10WFHP, and 10WF-HL groups, but not different from those of fish from 11WF-HPL and 10WF-HPL groups. Feed-efficiency ratio of fish from 12WF-C, 11WF-HP, 11WF-HPL, 10WF-HL, and 10WF-HPL groups was higher than that of fish in 11WF-C, 11WF-HL, 10WF-C, and 10WF-HP groups. The results of this study demonstrated that grower olive flounder subjected to 1- or 2-week feed deprivation were able to achieve full compensatory growth at suboptimal temperature only when fed HPL diet.