Effect of dietary protein and lipid source on the growth, survival, condition indices, and body composition of marron, Cherax tenuimanus (Smith)

doi:10.1016/S0044-8486(03)00418-6

Aquaculture

Volume 230, Issues 1–4, February 2004, Pages 439-455

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0044-8486(03)00418-6 Get rights and content

Abstract

A trial was conducted in 12 purpose-built, commercial, drainable, earthen ponds to evaluate the effect of fish and plant protein and lipid source on the growth, condition indices, and body composition of marron (Cherax tenuimanus). Juvenile marron (1.3 ± 0.28 S.E. g) at the stocking densities of three per square meter were fed for a period of 1 year with four different formulated isoenergetic practical diets (D₁, D₂, D₃, and D₄). Three of the test diets (D₁, D₂, and D₃) were isonitrogenous whereas the fourth test diet (D₄) was protein-free. Protein and lipid sources in D₁ were from Lupin (Lupinus albus) whereas protein and lipid sources in D₂ and D₃ were from fish meal. Fish oil (3.5%) was added to D₁, D₃, and D₄ whereas sunflower oil was added to D₂ and D₄ in order to make them isoenergetic. The four test diets were randomly allocated to three replicate ponds.

The lack of protein in D₄ did not significantly influence ( P > 0.05) the mean final weight andspecific growth rate of marron. Survival was low in all ponds (13.82–34.66%) but feeding with D₄ resulted in a significantly (P < 0.05) higher survival than marron fed with D₁ and D₂. Feeding a diet containing a combination of fish protein and fish oil (D₃) resulted in significantly higher (P < 0.05) wet tail muscles-to-body weight ratio than was observed with other diets. Tail muscles protein level of all marron was significantly lower ( P < 0.05) at the end of the trial than at the beginning. EPA and DHA in hepatopancreas and tail muscles of marron were affected by the four test diets. The inclusion of plant protein in formulated diets had a negative impact on the pond environment due to significantly higher unionised ammonia levels that resulted in lower survival. Juvenile marron fed with a plant protein diet had significantly lower protein levels in their hepatopancreas compared to those fed with diets containing animal protein. Feeding marron with lupin protein source (D₁) and plant oil (D₂) for 1 year did not alter the lipid content of their hepatopancreas. Four test diets had no influence on the fat content of marron hepatopancreas; however, these test diets significantly reduced the protein content of the tail muscles of marron.

Environmental variables, particularly temperature, nitrogen metabolites, and the natural productivity of the ecosystem, greatly influenced the nutritional requirements of the juvenile marron under culture.

Introduction

Feed accounts for 40–60% of the production costs in aquaculture (D'Abramo and Sheen, 1991; Akiyama et al., 1992; Sarac et al., 1993), with protein sources accounting for a significant proportion of this cost (New, 1976; Akiyama and Dominy, 1991). The nutritional and energy requirements of aquatic animals can be provided from protein, carbohydrate, and lipid sources; should one source be in short supply in the diet, the animal can adjust to some extent to obtain its requirements from the others. This apparently simple physiological shunt, however, has implications for aquaculture. Further, the use of protein as an energy source can lead to deterioration in environmental conditions caused by deteriorating water quality.

The majority of formulated diets for decapod crustaceans in Australia, including those of freshwater crayfish, are presently produced using imported fish meal as the protein source. Recent nutrition research has focused on the evaluation of alternative cheap and cost-effective protein sources based on plant products (Kanazawa, 1991; Agung et al., 1995). However, plant sources also provide some dietary oil components and this influences the fatty acid profile of the formulated diet. Thus, alteration of the protein source in the diet can significantly affect the dietary fatty acid profile. The effects of the replacement of fish meal with plant-based protein sources on the lipid composition of aquaculture diets have not been studied in detail. Furthermore, no research has yet investigated the effect of the interaction between lipids and proteins on freshwater crayfish growth under commercial farming conditions, where pond flora provide a significant source of nutrition (Moore, 1986; D'Abramo and Sheen, 1991).

The aims of this experiment were:

1.
1. to evaluate the effect of the absence of supplementary dietary protein;
2.
2. to evaluate the influence of fish and plant protein and lipid source on the growth, survival, condition indices, and body composition of marron cultured under commercial farm conditions; and
3.
3. to investigate the effect of interaction of dietary proteins and lipids on the growth of marron.

Section snippets

Experimental system

Twelve purpose-built, drainable, earthen ponds located at Jurien Bay Marron Farm (JBMF), Jurien, Western Australia were used to evaluate the growth and survival of marron fed four test diets. All ponds were 70 × 15 m, varying in depth from 1 to 1.5 m deep. The slope of all pond embankments was 3:1. Ponds were randomly selected out of 38 ponds available at JBMF. All ponds were completely drainable via a PVC pipe (100 mm in diameter). By lifting the standpipe from the outlet at the deepest end of

Water quality

Ionic composition of pond water (Table 4) showed a general trend of increasing salt content with time, but not of a magnitude to influence significantly the results. Nitrite and nitrate levels ranged from 0.015 to 0.5 and from 0.5 to 5.0 mg/l (Table 4), respectively. Unionised ammonia levels were high (0.05–0.5 mg/l) during the last 4 months of the trial (Table 4). At the end of the trial, ponds receiving diet D₄ had significantly lower (P <0.05) levels of unionised ammonia compared to other

Survival and water quality

The entire trial was marked by the low percentage survival (13.82–34.66%) of marron in all of the experimental ponds. The average survival of the entire JBMF (excluding experimental ponds used in this trial) was 16% for marron fed commercial diet having protein levels of 25% (15% animal protein and 10% plant protein) over the same period.

The survival of marron receiving diet D₄ was significantly higher (P<0.05) than marron receiving diets D₁ and D₂, indicating that inclusion of protein in the

Acknowledgements

Mr. John Lang provided the farm facilities for the experiment and his help is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks to Mr. Greg Johnson for feeding the marron. The authors thank the Department of Fisheries of Western Australia and the Marron Growers Association for contributing funds to the postgraduate award. Thanks to Brenton Knot and Louis Evans for providing critical comments on the manuscript.

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