Abstract
Mediterranean amberjack Seriola dumerili (Risso 1810) has aquaculture potential. The growth rate and food conversion ratio of S. dumerili on three different types of food (A: 100% frozen sardines; B: 50% frozen sardines and 50% pellet C: 100% pellet) were measured, and analysed with respect to temperature, condition index and chemical composition of the fish fillet. Wild S. dumerili, average body weight 248 g and average total length 26.9 cm were caught in August and September 1994 in the South Adriatic Sea near Dubrovnik, Croatia and kept in three tanks (n = 15 in each tank; duration of experiment, 226 days). The fish that were fed on diet A [initial weight, 252 +/- 71 g; total length (TL), 24.3 +/- 2.6 cm] started feeding immediately; however, fish assigned to diet C began to feed entirely on the pelleted diet 1 month after the start of the experiment. The mortality of fish fed on diet A was negligible, the registered growth rate was 313 +/- 74 g (124.2%), specific growth rate was 0.32% day(-1) and the food conversion rate was 6.7. The fish fed on diet B (initial weight, 246 +/- 74 g; TL, 28.2 +/- 2.5 cm) started to feed on day 3 and achieved a total growth rate of about 98% (final weight gain, 241 +/- 69 g) and specific growth rate of 0.24% day(-1) (feed conversion rate of 9.00 and mortality 13%). The fish fed on diet C (initial weight, 246 74 g; TL, 28.2 2.5 cm) started to feed on the pellets after I month and had a growth rate of 87% (weight gain 214 +/- 85 g), a specific growth rate of 0.24% day(-1) and a food conversion rate of 10.6 with considerable mortality (27%). In all three diet groups the fish grew with considerable variation in food consumption and growth rate, depending on seasonal temperature variations of the ambient sea water supplied to the rearing tanks. Chemical analysis showed that the protein level (amount) in the fish meat exceeded 20% in all three fish fillet samples.
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