The effects of experimental starter diets with different levels of soybean or menhaden oil on red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)

• Published in: Aquaculture
• Main Authors: Tucker, J. W., Jr., Lellis, W. A., Vermeer, G. K., Roberts, D. E., Jr., Woodward, P. N.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V. 1997
• Subjects: Red drum; Fishes > Food; Soybean oil; Menhaden; Fish oils as feed; Woodward; Sciaenops ocellatus
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0044-8486(96)01448-2; http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=3331915

Red drum reared from captive-spawned eggs were used in a 2 × 4 factorial experiment comparing eight diets with soybean oil (SBO) or menhaden oil (MHO) added to a basal diet (about 3.4% lipid from practical ingredients) at 1.5, 5.2, 9.0, or 12.7%. Triplicate groups of 20 early juveniles (mean 0.4 g) were stocked in 1000 litre fiberglass tanks supplied with filtered estuarine water (17–26 °C, mean 22 °C; 15–35‰) and hand fed twice a day to apparent satiation for 56 days. The fish (range 0.3–9.4 g) appeared to utilize up to 1.5–5.2% dietary SBO (in 5.4–8.7% total lipid). With 0.67% EPA + DHA (eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids) in the basal diet, no EFA-deficiency signs were observed. Dietary MHO was utilized up to 12.7%, but fish fed diets with more than 1.5% SBO had lower growth rates and increased feed conversion ratios (especially with 9.0 and 12.7% SBO). This manuscript is an author version with the final publication available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00448486 and may be cited as: Tucker, J. W., Jr., Lellis, W. A., Vermeer, G. K., Roberts, D. E., Jr., & Woodward, P. N. (1997). The effects of experimental starter diets with different levels of soybean or menhaden oil on red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). Aquaculture, 149(3-4), 323-339. doi:10.1016/S0044-8486(96)01448-2 Florida Atlantic University. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute contribution #1157.