Including seaweed meal in the diet for juvenile of dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus (Lowe, 1834)

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of including flour from the seaweed, Schizochytrium sp. in the feed provided to dusk grouper and evaluate its effects on the zootechnical performance of the species kept in a recirculation system. Dusky juveniles acquired from a commercial laboratory of marine fish fingerlings were used in the experiment grouper. The experimental units consisted of 12 circular polyethylene tanks, each with a capacity of 1,000 L. Each unit consisted of 10 fish, and the duration of the experiment was 55 days. The experimental diets were formulated according to the nutritional requirements of marine species. through the extrusion process. The experiment had three treatments and four replications, as follows: treatment 1, control diet © without seaweed meal; treatment 2, diet (D2) enriched with 2% seaweed meal; and treatment 3, diet (D4) enriched with 4% seaweed meal. After analyzing the data, it was observed that the control treatment had the highest average values for zootechnical performance variables, followed by the treatments with 2% and 4% seaweed meal inclusion. There was no significant difference between the control treatment and the 2% inclusion treatment. However, the 4% inclusion had a negative impact on fish performance. Survival rates were similar across all treatments at the end of the experiment.