Open AccessEffects of natural dietary carotenoids on skin coloration of false Clownfish ( Amphiprion ocellaris Cuvier, 1830)
Author(s) -
Nhan Hua Thai,
Minh Tran Xuan,
Liew Hon Jung,
Hien Tran Thi Thanh,
Jha Rajesh
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
aquaculture nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.941
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1365-2095
pISSN - 1353-5773
DOI - 10.1111/anu.12887
Subject(s) - biology , carotenoid , weed , carotene , fish <actinopterygii> , food science , zoology , ornamental plant , feed conversion ratio , juvenile , botany , body weight , fishery , ecology , endocrinology
This study was performed to evaluate the effect of dietary natural carotenoid sources on skin colour enhancement of false clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris . The juvenile fish (initial body wt. 0.30 g) were fed with four experimental diets including (a) commercial feed (reference diet), (b) moist feed, (c) sweet potato (potato diet) and (d) dried gut weed Enteromorpha sp. (gut weed diet). Sweet potato and gut weed were used to boost up β‐carotene levels in the diets. There was no significant difference in final weight (0.51 ± 0.02 – 0.61 ± 0.01 g) and length (2.80 ± 0.02 cm) of fishes among treatments ( p > 0.05) after 8 weeks. The survival rate of the fish in all dietary treatment was greater than 89%. Principal component analysis results showed that fish fed potato and gut weed diets performed brighter colour in skin with more orangeness, body and accumulated β‐carotene levels were higher than those fish fed with reference diet. Indicator a* value for the redness of fish fed potato diet (16.18 ± 0.59) and gut weed (14.36 ± 2.14) was also higher than fish fed reference diet (10.92 ± 0.82). The result of this study provided key information for developing dietary colour enhancement of ornamental fish by using cost‐effective feed ingredients (potato and gut weed) as natural supplemental carotenoid sources.