Survival, Growth, and Body Composition of White Sturgeon Larvae Fed Purified and Commercial Diets at 14.7 and 18.4°C

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Abstract Forty groups of 9-d-old (posthatch) larval white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) were kept at either 14.7 or 18.4°C and fed one of five different diets: three commercial semimoist starter diets for salmonids and two dry purified diets for juvenile white sturgeons. Among fish fed the semimoist commercial diets, overall survival was higher (62–79%) at 14.7°C than at 18.4°C (24–45%). White sturgeons fed the purified diets achieved survival rates of 4–19% and 15–33% at 14.7 and 18.4°C, respectively. Growth was uniformly greater in the warmer water. Fish fed the commercial diets achieved a final average total weight (all surviving fish in a tank) of at least twice that of fish fed the purified diets. Whole-body moisture content was higher in fish reared at the lower temperature for each diet, as was percent protein in fish fed each of the diets except the medicated semimoist commercial ration. Body lipid did not vary between sturgeon larvae reared at the two temperatures, whereas ash levels were gr...