Open AccessEffects of dietary blend of fish oil with corn oil on growth and non‐specific immune responses of grouper, Epinephelus malabaricus
Author(s) -
LIN YUHUNG,
SHIAU SHIYEN
Publication year - 2007
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/j.1365-2095.2007.00458.x
Subject(s) - grouper , biology , fish oil , epinephelus , fish meal , zoology , weight gain , feed conversion ratio , commercial fish feed , serranidae , fishery , lysozyme , aquaculture , composition (language) , food science , fish <actinopterygii> , body weight , biochemistry , endocrinology , linguistics , philosophy
A growth trial was conducted to investigate the effects of fish oil and corn oil on the growth and non‐specific immune responses of juvenile grouper, Epinephelus malabaricus . Five semi‐purified diets were supplemented with 40 g kg −1 of either fish oil (F4), corn oil (C4) or blend of fish oil with corn oil at ratio of 3 : 1 (F3C1); 1 : 1 (F2C2) and 1 : 3 (F1C3). Each diet was fed to triplicate groups of grouper (mean initial weight: 10.26 ± 0.14 g) in a recirculating rearing system for 8 weeks. Weight gain and feed efficiency of fish fed the F4, F3C1 and F2C2 diets were the highest ( P < 0.05), followed by fish fed the F1C3 diet, and the lowest in fish fed the C4 diet. Fish fed the C4 diet had a lower survival rate than fish on other dietary treatments. Fatty acid composition of liver and muscle in fish generally reflected the composition of the diet. Leukocyte superoxide anion (O − 2 ) production ratio was the highest in fish fed the F3C1 and F2C2 diets, followed by fish fed the F4 and F1C3 diets, and the lowest in fish fed the C4 diet. Fish fed the F3C1 and F2C2 diets had higher plasma lysozyme activities than fish fed the F4 and C4 diets. Plasma alternative complement activity was higher in fish fed the F3C1, F2C2 and F1C3 diets than fish fed the F4 and C4 diets. These results suggest that grouper fed diets with 3 : 1 or 1 : 1 of fish oil to corn oil ratio had similar growth to the fish fed diet with fish oil. Blend of fish oil with corn oil in diet significantly enhanced non‐specific immune responses of grouper when the fed diet contained fish oil as the only lipid source.