Amal Biswas

Dietary utility of enzyme-treated fish meal for juvenile Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis

In order to develop an artificial diet, the dietary utility of enzyme-treated fish meal was investigated for juvenile Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis (PBT). Diets containing each 63% of Chilean fish meal (FM), enzyme-treated chilean fish meal (EC) and enzyme-treated Peruvian fish meal (EP), with 10% bonito oil and raw sand lance Ammodytes personatus (SL) were fed to juvenile tuna six times per day for one week. In a different trial, diets EC and SL were fed to tuna six times per day for 2 weeks. Only diet EC sustained similar growth or caused lower survival and higher feed efficiency, hepato- and enterosomatic indices and final carcass lipid content as compared to those of SL. Diets FM and EP led to lower specific growth rate (SGR) but similar feed efficiency, survival and hepatosomatic index, yet higher enterosomatic index. Moreover, PBT fed diet EC for 2 weeks led to similar growth performance but higher final carcass and hepatic lipid contents, and plasma cholesterol and phospholipid levels than those fed SL. Carcass fatty acid composition of diet EC group had lower 20∶5 n-3 and 22∶6 n-3 levels than the SL group. These results revealed that EC, as a suitable dietary protein source, could sustain growth of PBT, while dietary bonito oil led to higher carcass lipid but lower accumulation of n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids.

Comparison of apparent digestibility coefficient among replicates and different stocking density in red sea bream Pagrus major

Two consecutive feeding trials were conducted to know: (i) how the apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) varies among replicates on different days and during the course of the experiment (Trial 1); and (ii) the effect of stocking density (e.g. 7.17, 5.56, and 3.92 kg fish/t water) on the ADC of nutrients and energy in red sea bream (Trial 2). In both trials, 0.5% Cr2O3 was used as an inert marker. In Trial 1, there were no significant differences in ADC within the replicates although the values on different days varied significantly during the second week. The ADC of all parameters in the third and fourth weeks was significantly higher than in the second week (P<0.05). Although statistically insignificant, the lower stocking densities (3.92 and 5.56 kg fish/t water) showed better growth performance and superior ADC of protein, lipid, and energy than the higher stocking density in Trial 2. The results indicated that it may be better to acclimate fish to the diet for at least three weeks to obtain more reliable data by using a single tank for each treatment for digestibility experiments. Results also indicated that growth and digestibility performance can be stimulated by controlling stocking density.

Growth and Environmental Tolerances (Water Temperature and Low Salinity) of Hybrid Female Red Sea Bream Pagrus major × Male Black Sea Bream Acanthopagrus schregeli

The growth and tolerance for water temperature and salinity were compared among red sea bream Pagrus major (RSB) black sea bream Acanthopagrus schregeli (BSB) and their hybrid (), female RSB male BSB. The growth of the fish did not differ until 27 days after hatching (dAH), after which the most rapid growth was observed until approximately 300 dAH, followed by RSB and BSB. However, the RSB had out grown the fish by approximately 303 dAH. By 480 dAH, the RSB were largest, followed by the and BSB groups. The tolerances for high and low water temperature were significantly different for each species and growth stage. The largest tolerance spectrum was observed in the BSB group, and the tolerance spectrums gradually decreased with increasing final body weight. During the salinity tolerance trials, all of the species started to die following transfer into freshwater (0 psu). BSB showed the highest survival rate when kept in fresh water for an average of 29.9 hours, while the fish were more tolerant than the RSB fish. The fish were increasingly tolerant to fresh water and changes in water temperature as they grew, while the size of the temperature spectrum remained unchanged but shifted to a lower temperature range with growth. Our results demonstrate that performed well in terms of growth compared to parental fish, with higher temperature and salinity tolerances than RSB, and is thus suggested to be a suitable aquaculture species for Korea and northeast China.

Molecular cloning and expression profiling of procollagen α1 (I) of cultured Pacific bluefin tuna

Type I collagen is widely distributed in most organs in teleosts. It plays a role not only in intercellular adhesion, but also in molecular signaling. In this study, Pacific bluefin tuna (PBT) procollagen α1 (I) cDNA was cloned and characterized. The nine fragments of a procollagen α1 (I) chain cDNA clone were prepared and spliced together to create the complete coding region. The resulting amino acid sequence was homologous with that of other teleosts. The mRNA expression profile of PBT procollagen α1 (I) in various tissues and the phylogenetic analysis with other vertebrate procollagen α1 (I) chains suggest that PBT procollagen α1 (I) could be a precursor form of the PBT type I collagen α1 chain. In addition, its level of expression in PBT larvae and early juveniles gradually increased with somatic growth. This increase was related to the standard length, wet body weight, and protein content of each individual fish. Therefore, the expression profile of procollagen α1 (I) may be a useful indicator for somatic growth in fish larvae and juveniles.

Suitable Dietary Protein/Lipid Ratio for Hybrid, Female Red Sea Bream Pagrus major and Male Black Sea Bream Acanthopagrus schlegeli in the Juvenile Stage, Compared with Red Sea Bream

Abstract To determine a suitable dietary protein/lipid (CP/CL) ratio in the early juvenile stages of hybrid porgy (F 1 ), female red sea bream (RSB) × male black sea bream, five diets with various CP/CL ratios—60/7, 55/12, 51/17, 46/23, and 41/28—were prepared and provided to juveniles in triplicate. At the smaller juvenile stage, F 1 , weighing 0.32 g, a significantly higher specific growth rate (SGR) and feed efficiency (FE) were seen with 60/7 and 55/12 diets. However, in RSB weighing 0.26 g, SGR and FE were higher with the 60/7 diet than the other diets at 21°C. At the larger juvenile stage, F 1 , weighing 3.7 g, there was no significant difference in SGR or FE among the diets, but RSB weighing 4.0 g fed 60/7, 55/12, and 51/17 diets had higher SGR and FE than 46/23 and 41/28 diets at 24°C. Moreover, survival and apparent nutrient retention of F 1 at both stages were significantly higher than those in RSB. These results indicate that both F 1 and RSB weighing ca. 0.3 g require a higher dietary CP/CL than those weighing ca. 4 g. Additionally, F