Alternative Protein Sources in Artificial Diets for New Zealand's Black‐Footed Abalone, Haliotis iris, Martyn 1784, Juveniles

Abstract

Growth and health parameters were tested in juvenile New Zealand black‐footed abalone, Haliotis iris, fed nine diets containing different protein sources (white and red fishmeal, blood meal, meat and bone meal, casein, soybean concentrate, wheat gluten, maize gluten, and Spirulina powder) over a 5‐mo period. The growth parameters measured included shell length, total animal weight, and soft body and gonad weights. The health indicators included survival, goblet cell counts, and epithelium thickness of the tentacle region. Proximate analyses and amino acid and fatty acid profiles were also determined on the diets, soft body tissues and shell materials to evaluate the nutrient contents (diet and animal) and requirements (animal). Measurements of soft body, gonad, and shell growth parameters indicated that white and red fishmeals generally result in better growth. Animals fed blood meal had the lowest survival rates and crude protein contents. Spirulina produced animals with the heaviest shells and soybean treatments produced animals with the highest gonad to soft body ratios. Significantly lower acid/basic amino acid ratios were found in fishmeal diets, indicating that animals fed fishmeal may incorporate more aragonite than calcite in their shells.

Use of probiotic bacteria to improve growth and survivability of farmed New Zealand abalone (Haliotis iris)

“…Tung & Alfaro (2011a) observed that the shell length and wet weight of juvenile H. iris increased with increasing protein levels in the diet, and that growth was further enhanced with increasing water temperatures. In addition, the source and amount of protein in the diet have been shown to affect the nutritional composition of juvenile H. iris soft tissues (Tung & Alfaro 2011b) and shell morphology (i.e. length, width, height, thickness, weight) (Tung & Alfaro 2011c).…”

Effect of proline-enriched abalone feed on selected metabolite levels of slow-growing adultHaliotis midae

“…iris, it was concluded that lipids do not significantly affect the growth of this abalone species (Tung & Alfaro, 2012), which could be true for H. midae as well.…”

“…Furthermore, adult abalone have the capacity to accumulate lipid stores, suggesting an increased dependence on a pathway like β‐oxidation for energy production in H. midae (Laas & Vosloo, ). Based on a dietary lipid investigation conducted on H. iris, it was concluded that lipids do not significantly affect the growth of this abalone species (Tung & Alfaro, ), which could be true for H. midae as well.…”

Corn Starch as a Dietary Seaweed Powder Replacer in Juvenile Abalone, Haliotis discus hannai

“…In Korea, it is very popular to use artificial feeds for the nursery and juvenile stage (Park and Kim ). Tung and Alfaro () reported that although there were specific abalone artificial feeds in the market, the high price banned the local farmers from importing diets. Bautista‐Teruel et al () suggested that the use of mixed protein sources could not only show better growth results but also reduce diet costs substantially.…”

“…Moreover, enhanced growth rates, biosecurity, sea, and seasonal independence (FitzGerald ) are some of the reasons for increasing use of artificial diets. Several studies reported better growth rates for abalones fed artificial diets compared to seaweeds (Viana et al ; Fleming et al ; Lee ; Naidoo et al ; Troell et al ; Cho and Kim ; Tung and Alfaro ).…”