Abstract
Although Litopenaeus vannamei is the most produced and researched shrimp species worldwide, there are no published studies evaluating the use of the microbial biomass, Novacq™, in L. vannamei feeds. This study investigated the effects of supplementing Novacq™ at 100 g kg−1 in practical and commercial feeds in postlarvae 12 (PL 12) and juvenile white leg shrimp. Three experiments were carried out. In Experiment 1, PL12 were fed for 21 days with a Control, Novacq™ or Commercial feed. The Novacq feed was equal in PL12 performance to the Commercial diet and superior to the Control (final individual weight = 0.169, 0.167 and 0.087 g; percentage weight gain = 8014, 7956 and 4091% for Novacq™, Commercial and Control feeds, respectively). No statistical differences in survival, coefficient of variation and daily feed offered were observed across dietary treatments. In Experiments 2 and 3 the performance of juvenile shrimp fed practical and Commercial feeds supplemented with Novacq™ for 42 days, respectively. In Experiment 2, Novacq™ feed outperformed the Control feed by improving survival (89 vs. 51%), final individual weight (7.4 vs. 3.5 g), weight gain (7.1 vs. 3.2 g), and percentage weight gain (1997 vs. 898%). In Experiment 3 supplementing Novacq™ into the Commercial feed improved performance (final individual weight = 6.4 vs. 5.5 g, weight gain = 6.0 vs. 5.1 g, and percentage weight gain = 1712 vs 1443%) and reduced the coefficient of variation (19 vs 53%). Shrimp fed feeds containing Novacq™ also displayed numerically reduced daily feed offered and estimated feed conversion ratio values in comparison to the other dietary treatments. Whole-body composition was similar across dietary treatments. In summary, supplementation of Novacq™ in practical and Commercial feeds improved growth and efficiency of PL12 and juvenile shrimp suggesting its validity as a useful feed additive in the nutrition of white leg shrimp.
Published Version
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