Effects of dietary protein and energy levels on growth performance, feed utilization and body composition of juvenile shirbot Barbus grypus (Heckle, 1843)

Shirbot (Barbus grypus) as a species with high potential for aquaculture development recently propagated artificially in South Iran Aquaculture Research Center to extend the species diversity in polyculture system. To provide an effective economic diet for this species 9 experimental diets containing three crude protein levels (250, 300, and 350 g kg -1) and three metabolizable energy levels (10.46, 12.55 and 14.64 MJ kg -1) were fed to triplicate groups of shirbot juvenile fish (initial body weight of 29.68± 0.19). Three aerated tanks were randomly assigned to each treatment, stocked with 15 juvenile fish and reared for a 60-day period. The preferential diet, which was diet 4, (300 g kg -1 CP and 10.46 MJ kg -1 ME) exhibited the best growth and feed utilization performances. Fishes fed diet 4 showed higher weight gain, feed efficiency ratio and survival rate with a significant difference (P0.05). It was found that varying levels of CP and DE in the diets did not significantly affect the body composition of the fish (P>0.05) except for the CF. Comparison between varying levels of dietary protein and energy on the growth, feed utilization and body composition of Barbus grypus indicated that 250 to 300 g kg -1 CP and 10.46 MJ kg -1 ME could be the preferential dietary levels for this species in the juvenile stage

Effects of different levels of energy and protein sources on the growth performance, feeding, survival rate and the chemical body composition of juvenile Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

The present study was carried out in order to establish an economical effective diet for the Pacific white shrimp in the southern part conditions of Iran. Three dietary energy levels (E1=262, E2=312, E3=362 Kcal 100 g^-1 diet) and 6 ratios of fish meal (FM): soybean meal (SBM) [(P1= 100% FM+ 0% SBM), (P2= 80% FM+ 20% SBM), (P3= 60% FM+ 40% SBM), (P4= 40% FM+ 60% SBM), (P5= 20% FM+ 80% SBM), (P6= 0% FM+ 100% SBM)], 18 experimental diets were prepared. Completely randomized design was used to assign 54 polyethylene 300 litre round tanks provided by aeration and was stocked by 19 juvenile shrimp as 3 replicates to each treatment. Shrimps average weight was about 0.77 g at the start. After 56 days culture period, maximum growth and nutritional performance were observed in the P6E1 and P5E1 treatments. In addition, the highest survival rate of the shrimps was observed in the P1E1, P1E2, P3E3 and P5E3 treatments. Results indicated that protein, fat, fiber and ash contents of carcase were significantly affected by the treatments (P<0.05). Results of the present study suggest the replacement possibility of at least 80% of dietary fishmeal by soybean meal in the diet of Pacific white shrimp in the conditions of southern part of Iran

The amino acid compositions of muscle from wild and cultured of male and female Acanthopagrus latus

The crude protein content and amino acid compositions of muscle from wild and cultured of male and female Acanthopagrus latus were determined by HPLC. There were quantitative differences between individual amino acids in the tissues investigated, depending on the sex and location. It was noted that, among all the samples studied in tissues, sexes and locations, lysine and isoleucine were the principal essential amino acid (EAA) and glutamic acid was mainly for non-essential amino acid (NEAA). Lysine and isoleucine of male muscles had a significantly higher (P0.05) level of EAA than other groups. The results indicate that the Acanthopagrus latus is a healthful component of the human diet

Benthic invertebrate community in Khur-e-Mussa creeks in northwest of Persian Gulf and the application of the AMBI (AZTI's Marine Biotic Index)

Benthic invertebrates are a well-established target in environmental quality status evaluations. The AMBI (AZTI's Marine Biotic Index) was developed to determine the impacts and the quality status of soft-bottom marine benthic communities. The aim of this study was investigating multivariate pattern of benthic invertebrate community and application of AMBI (AZTI's Marine Biotic Index) for determining quality of health status in Khuzestan coastal waters. Seasonal samplings were collected from eight creeks over one year study by Peterson grab sampler, beginning from October 2005. All creeks are characterized by muddy bottom. According to sensitivity to environmental stress, macrobenthic animals classified into 5 ecological groups. Among 28 identified faunal groups the most abundant groups were polychaets, molluscs, crustaceans and nematodes, respectively. Two way ANOVAs showed only seasonal significant differences in mean abundance (P<0.05) and Margalef richness index values (P<0.05), while all of studied creeks shows similar biological characters based on benthic communities. According to annual mean of AMBI value all creeks were in ecological group III with slightly polluted condition, except for Darvish that was in unpolluted category. In the present study, although the number of species initially increased, but due to appearance of dominant species such as Capitella sp. and nematods (as opportunist species), diversity values reduced. In general, according to AMBI and Biotic index values, the most creeks are classified into unpolluted and slightly polluted categories except for Zangy, Doragh and Patil in summer and also Zangy and Bihad in winter which was in moderate to heavily polluted category. Different types of exploitation, industrial and shipping activities in this area could result in unbalanced to polluted status in benthic animals (as the best indicators in sediment quality assessment) so these results can be acceptable

Effects of single and combined supplementation of Lactobacillus plantarum with dietary xylooligosaccharide on growth performance, body composition and physiological responses of sobaity (Sparidentex hasta) fingerling

The aim of this study was to evaluate the single and combined effects of dietary probiotic with prebiotic on growth performance, non-specific immune response, body composition, digestive enzymes activity and intestine bacterial flora of sobaity fingerling (Sparidentex hasta). For this purpose, 425 individuals of sobaity fingerlings were prepared with an average weight of 7.64 ± 0.3 g from the Mariculture Research Station of South Iranian Aquaculture Research Center. This study was carried out in a completely randomized design with four treatments and three replications (45 fish per each replication) in fiberglass tanks with 300 liters volume. Fish were fed with feed containing 0 (control group), 10^6 CFU probiotic per gram feed (treatment 1), 0.5 and 1 percent prebiotic plus10^6 CFU probiotic per gram feed (treatment 2 and 3) at 4.5 percent of body weight for a period of 42 days. At the end of the experiment, body composition, intestine, blood, plasma and mucus samples were collected. The obtained results indicated that dietary prebiotic and probiotic did not change growth performance, intestine bacterial flora and non-specific immune response of sobaity (P > 0.05). Nonetheless, plasma bactericidal activity of control group was significantly higher that treatment 3 (P < 0.05). Moisture and protein content of treatment 2 showed significant different compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The results of this study showed that digestive enzymes activity including alkaline protease, amylse and lipase affected by administration of dietary prebiotic and probiotic (P < 0.05). Overall, this study showed that single supplementation of probiotic and combination with prebiotic at the used amounts had no positive effects on growth performance and intestine bacterial flora and immune response (except plasma bactericidal activity) of sobaity but improve digestive enzymes activity