Effect of dietary lipid level on nutritional performance of the surubim, Pseudoplatystoma coruscans

• Published in: Aquaculture Vol. 209; no. 1; pp. 209 - 218
• Main Authors: Martino, Ricardo C, Cyrino, José Eurico P, Portz, Leandro, Trugo, Luiz C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 28-06-2002; Elsevier Science; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: Animal aquaculture; Animal productions; Aquaculture; Biological and medical sciences; Dietary lipid; Effects; Fish; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Lipids; Nutrition; Pisciculture; Proximate composition; Pseudoplatystoma coruscans; Surubim; Vertebrate aquaculture; South America; Brazil; America; Surubim; Dietary lipid; Proximate composition; Pseudoplatystoma coruscans; Performance; Endemic species; Animal feeding; Nutritive value; Lipids; Experimental study; Body composition; Protein; Feeding; Feed conversion efficiency; Freshwater environment; Vertebrata; Diet; Pisces; Pisciculture
• ISSN: 0044-8486; 1873-5622
• DOI: 10.1016/S0044-8486(01)00738-4

Four diets were formulated to contain a constant protein level (46%) and four different lipid levels (6%, 10%, 14% and 18%). The diets were fed to surubim, a Brazilian native carnivorous freshwater fish. Gross energy of the diets were 4440, 4650, 4840, and 5140 (kcal/kg). Surubim fingerlings (average weight: 2.72 g/fish) were randomly assigned to treatments and fed the test diets twice a day to apparent satiation for 62 days. The study was conducted in triplicate with 13 fish distributed in 60-l net-cages set up in 1000-l plastic tanks (three cages per tank), equipped with a flow through freshwater system and water temperature of 27±1 °C. The diet with 6% lipid gave the poorest performance, while fish fed the highest lipid level showed the best nutritional performance. Feed conversion ratio and daily feed consumption showed a marked decrease (
P<0.05) in inverse proportion to lipid level in the diet. Proximate composition of fish whole body was markedly affected (
P<0.05) by dietary lipid, particularly in relation to moisture and crude lipid. Visceral lipid content and nutrient retention also increased in direct proportion to the dietary lipid level (
P<0.05). Results of the present study indicate that soybean lipid is well metabolized by this species, serving as a source of energy and promoting excellent growth.