Effects of Different Lipid Sources on the Growth Performance and Muscle Fatty Acid Composition of Juvenile Anguilla marmorata

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different oils on growth performance of juvenile Anguilla marmorata. Five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic experimental diets were formulated to contain fish oil (FO), sunflower oil (SFO), peanut oil (PO), corn oil (CO) and soybean oil (SBO), respectively, as lipid sources each at an inclusion level of 50 g/kg. The diets were fed to apparent satiation for 10 weeks, twice a day to triplicate tanks of 30 fish each with an initial body weight 6.00±0.06 g. Weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) of fish fed the FO and SBO diets were markedly higher than those fed the CO diet, while no other difference in WG and SGR were observed among other treatments. Fish fed FO and SBO diets had better feed utilization than the other diet fish groups. Muscle of fish fed the FO diet had significantly higher levels of C20:5n-3 and n-3/n-6 ratio compared with fish fed vegetable oil (VO) diets, while muscle n-6 PUFA and C18:2n-6 content showed an opposite trend. The present results suggest that soybean oil is a suitable replacement for fish oil for Anguilla marmorata. The IJA appears exclusively as a peer-reviewed on-line open-access journal at http://www.siamb.org.il. To read papers free of charge, please register online at registration form. Sale of IJA papers is strictly forbidden.