Juvenile sunshine bass ( Morone chrysops ♀× Morone saxatilis ♂) do not require dietary myo-inositol

Abstract

An 8-week growth trial was conducted to evaluate the dietary inositol requirement of juvenile sunshine bass. Six purified diets were formulated to contain graded levels of supplemental myo-inositol: 0+antibiotic (0.5%), 0, 120, 240, 360 and 480 mg/kg diet. Each treatment was randomly assigned to three groups of fish. Fish were maintained in flow-through aquaria (25.2±0.5 °C) with 12 fish each (16–17 g/fish). Fish were fed twice per day at a rate of 3–4%. Supplementation of dietary inositol did not affect percent weight gain or feed efficiency of sunshine bass. Hepatosomatic index, liver and brain inositol concentrations were not significantly different in fish fed the different levels of dietary myo-inositol. No clinical deficiency signs were observed in fish fed the different experimental diets. The response of fish fed the myo-inositol-free diet with antibiotic was similar to that observed in the other groups. This study demonstrates that de novo synthesis of inositol is sufficient for normal growth and tissue concentrations of sunshine bass under these experimental conditions.