Potential effect of increasing the water content in the digestibility of microdiets for fish larvae

This study aimed to find a way for increasing the water content after rehydration of microdiet particles for fish larvae and to assess whether such increase contributes to a better disaggregation and digestion of particles within the gut of gilthead seabream larvae (4–15 days after hatching, dph). Four microdiets were prepared with increasing amounts of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC): 0, 20, 40 and 80 g kg−1. The inclusion of CMC resulted in an effective increase of the hydration capacity of particles. Water content after immersion ranged from 800 g kg−1 in the microdiet without CMC to 900 g kg−1 with 80 g kg−1 CMC. Larvae of different ages were fed during 10 h with these microdiets. The microparticles containing 80 g kg−1 CMC were more degraded in the gut of the younger larvae. No clear differences were observed from 10 dph onwards. Differences in enzymatic activities were not evident except for α‐amylase in 6 dph larvae. Gene expression of the enzyme precursors did not show any relation to the water content of microdiets. Overall, the results indicate that increasing the water content up to 900 g kg−1 may enhance the disintegration of food particles within the gut of younger larvae and to a lesser extent affect the response of digestive enzyme activities.This work has been funded by project ARRAINA – Advanced Research Initiatives for Nutrition & Aquaculture (EU seventh Framework Programme contract No. 288925).Peer reviewe