Osamu Takaoka

Dietary medicinal herbs improve growth and some non-specific immunity of red sea bream Pagrus major

The effects of dietary medicinal herbs on growth and some non-specific immunity were investigated in juvenile red sea bream Pagrus major. The fish (mean body weight 24.0±0.2g) were fed fishmeal diets supplemented with either Massa medicata (Mm), Crataegi fructus (Cf), Artemisia capillaries (Ac), Cnidium officinale (Co), or a mixture of all the herbs (HM), and a control diet without medicinal herbs, for 12 weeks. Survival, specific growth rate, feed efficiency, condition factor and hemoglobin levels were higher in fish given herbal diets than fish given the control diet without herbs. Significantly higher serum high density lipoprotein-cholesterol level and lysozyme activity were detected in HM and Co diet groups, and alternative complement pathway activity was detected in the HM diet group. However, significantly lower serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities were obtained in all herbal diet groups compared with the control diet group. Pathogen challenge test by intraperitoneal injection of Vibrio anguillarum indicated that highest survival was obtained in the HM diet group followed by Ac, Co, Cf, and Mm diet groups. The lowest survival was obtained in the control group. These results reveal that medicinal herbs in diets enhance growth and some non-specific immunity of red sea bream.

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.

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