Effect of Artificial Diets on Growth Performance, Body Composition and Gonad Maturation of Mullet (Liza Ramada) (Published)
This study was conducted to evaluate four different diets (fish oil FO, Palm oil PO, sunflower oil SO and mixed diet of three oils as 2% FO : 2%PO : 2%SO) on growth performance, body composition and gonad maturation of Liza ramada with an initial weight of 5.31±0.31g. Hundred fish were randomly distributed in twelve cement ponds with a volume of 2m3 each and fed for 120 days at a rate of 3% live body weight (BW) twice daily. The results showed significant differences (P<0.05) between diets. The highest growth performance, feed utilization and hepatosomatic index were obtained with the fish fed fish oil (FO) and Mixed diets, without significance difference between them. However, the fish fed palm oil (PO) and sunflower oil (SO) recorded less growth performance. Differences in certain fatty acid composition were detected but levels of saturated, mono-saturated and n-3 fatty acids recorded increased in each FO and mixed diets without significant differences between them. On the other hand, n-6 showed significantly increased in both palm oil (PO) and sunflower oil (SO) groups. The essential fatty acids (EFAs): arachidonic acid (ARA), ecosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were different across treatment groups suggesting that Liza ramada can affected with different oil sources. In the second trial the mixed diet was fed to the broodstock fish in earthen ponds. The broodstock fish showed an increased in growth performance, feed efficiency, heptosomatic and gonadsomatic indices of Liza ramada. The implications of the results are discussed in terms of oil type effects, diet costs and gonad histology of Liza ramada broodstock.
Keywords: Body Composition, Broodstock, Fatty Acids, Feed Utilization, Fish Oil, Gonad Histology, Growth Performance, Liza Ramada, Palm Oil, sunflower oil