Effect of different dietary protein and lipid levels on growth and survival of juvenile Australian redclaw crayfish, Cherax quadricarinatus (von Martens)

This study determined the effect of different dietary protein and lipid levels on growth and survival of juvenile redclaw Cherax quadricarinatus . Nine practical test diets were formulated to contain three crude protein (CP) levels [260, 310 and 360 g kg −1 , equivalent to 225, 260 and 296 g kg −1 digestible protein (DP) respectively] at three crude lipid (CL) levels (40, 80 and 120 g kg −1 , equivalent to 38, 67 and 103 digestible lipids respectively), with digestible protein : digestible energy (DP : DE) ranging from 14.6 to 22.6 mg protein kJ g −1 . Three replicate groups of 15 crayfish (initial weight mean ± SD, 0.71 ± 0.13 g) per diet treatment were stocked in 40 L tanks, at 28 °C for 60 days. The highest mean weight, specific growth rate and biomass, with values of 7.0 g, 3.67% day −1 , and 370.2 g m −2 , respectively, were achieved by feeding a diet with P : L = 310 : 80 ( P  < 0.05). The treatments resulted in a survival rate of 80–91%, feed conversion ratio of 1.08–1.61 and protein efficiency ratio of 2.24–3.08. Results indicated that a diet containing 270 g kg −1 DP (equivalent to 320 g kg −1 CP), 75 g kg −1 digestible lipid (DL) with a DP/DE of 18.4 mg protein kJ −1 , and 0.031 g protein per animal per day was optimum for juvenile C. quadricarinatus under the tested experimental conditions.