Growth performance and body composition of giant trahira fingerlings fed diets with different protein and energy levels

Galileu Crovatto Veras,Ana Lucia Salaro,Antonio Policarpo Souza Carneiro,Daniel Abreu Vasconcelo Campelo,Luis David Solis Murgas,Jener Alexandre Sampaio Zuanon

doi:10.1590/s0100-204x2010000900012

Galileu Crovatto Veras, Ana Lucia Salaro + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s0100-204x2010000900012

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Abstract

The objective of this work was to determine the proper levels of protein and energy in diets of Hoplias lacerdae fingerlings. The dietary crude protein (CP) and gross energy (GE) levels for fingerlings of giant trahira were evaluated in a completely randomized 4x3 factorial design with 35, 39, 43 and 47% CP and 4,100, 4,300 and 4,500 kcal kg-1 of GE, and four replicates. The survival rate was 99.22%, and a linear improvement on the performance parameters was detected after increasing diet crude protein levels. Feed conversion ratio decreased with increasing levels of dietary protein and energy in the diets. A significant interaction between crude protein and gross energy was observed over body protein and mineral matter. Body lipid has increased linearly as gross energy in the diet increased. The retention of crude protein and energy showed a linear increasing with rising of crude protein levels in the diet. Crude protein level at 47% provides the best performance and energy retention, independently of the gross energy levels in the diet.

Highlights

Protein is an essential nutrient for animal growth and development, and represents the most expensive portion in aquaculture diets (Lovell, 1989; Ai et al, 2004; Cho et al, 2005; Miller et al, 2005)
Amino acid‐deficient diets or diets with improper amino acid profile might decrease fish growth and feed efficiency, and affects the immune system, what leads to weight losses, since the available proteins would be mobilized to certain tissues in order to maintain vital functions (National Research Council, 1993; Wilson, 2002)
Once the trahira is a carnivorous fish with cannibalistic behavior from the early life history (Baras & Jobling, 2002), the high survival ratio (99.22%) and the absence of cannibalism in the present study might be related to the efficient feed conditioning of these animals made before the experiment (Luz et al, 2000, 2002; Salaro et al, 2003), and to the maintenance of specimens of similar size in the experimental aquariums

Summary

Introduction

Protein is an essential nutrient for animal growth and development, and represents the most expensive portion in aquaculture diets (Lovell, 1989; Ai et al, 2004; Cho et al, 2005; Miller et al, 2005). The amount of protein in fish diets should fit the minimum requirements to assure the nutritional demands of amino acids and the optimum fish growth (National Research Council, 1993). Amino acid‐deficient diets or diets with improper amino acid profile might decrease fish growth and feed efficiency, and affects the immune system, what leads to weight losses, since the available proteins would be mobilized to certain tissues in order to maintain vital functions (National Research Council, 1993; Wilson, 2002). Carnivorous species demand high protein levels in the diet (Kim & Lee, 2005), which can vary from 40 to 50% (De Silva et al, 2002; Deng et al, 2006).

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