Bioactive factors in microbial biomass have the capacity to offset reductions in the level of protein in the diet of black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon

Abstract

A factorial experiment was conducted with black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) juveniles to determine the effects of varying protein inclusion in the diet and also varying inclusion of a microbial biomass on growth, feed and nutrient utilization when fed in indoor laboratory conditions. The growth performance of the shrimp improved with increasing diet protein level. However, in the absence of the added microbial biomass, this growth performance plateaued at the 480. g/kg protein level. The addition of the microbial biomass improved growth at each inclusion level of both protein and microbial biomass. No plateau in growth was observed with the addition of the microbial biomass. Improvements in feed conversion were seen with increasing dietary protein levels and also the inclusion of the microbial biomass. Examination of the feed intake of each treatment supports that there was a combined effect of an increase in feed intake and improvements in feed conversion that contributed to the improvements in growth performance with the use of the microbial biomass, but the increases in dietary protein level largely influenced growth through improvements in feed conversion

The effects of adding microbial biomass to grow-out and maturation feeds on the reproductive performance of black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon

“…One notable outcome of the study was the slower growth of broodstock fed diets containing MB, compared to broodstock fed the control diet, in the grow-out phase. This result is inconsistent with former studies which have reported improved growth of juvenile shrimp when fed diets including MB (Anand et al, 2014;Glencross et al, 2013;Glencross et al, 2014;Glencross et al, 2015). In addition to the possibility that the MB grow-out diet was less optimal for growth than the control grow-out diet, when fed in low-density broodstock ponds during the grow-out phase, there are several other possibilities to explain the differences in results from former studies.…”

“…The proximate analysis revealed compositional differences between the MB and control maturation diets, such as the lower protein content of the MB diet. Interestingly, previous works by Glencross et al (2015) have demonstrated the use of MB, and particularly Novacq™, as a clear mechanism for offsetting decreases in performance directly related to reductions in dietary protein levels. However, it must be noted that these assessments were undertaken for juvenile shrimp only (~3 g) and with respects to growth and not reproductive performance.…”

“…The growth promoting effects of MB on shrimp have been reported in a number of studies (Burford et al, 2004;Glencross et al, 2013;Glencross et al, 2014;Glencross et al, 2015;Kuhn et al, 2008;Kuhn et al, 2009). Nutritional studies have demonstrated that the growth enhancing effects of bioactive products derived from MB are critically dependent on meeting the overall nutritional demands of shrimp (Glencross et al, 2013;Glencross et al, 2014).…”

“…The purpose of the current study was to assess the effects of including the MB derived bioactive product Novacq™ (Patent #2008201886), within the pelleted diets of domesticated P. monodon. Produced by manipulating marine bacteria and microalgae processes, Novacq™ has previously been demonstrated to improve growth, feed conversion efficiencies and viral tolerance within juvenile shrimp (Glencross et al, 2013;Glencross et al, 2014;Glencross et al, 2015;Sellars et al, 2015). The effect of MB (Novacq™) supplementation on reproductive performance during a 7 month grow-out phase and the subsequent 3 month maturation phase, which included a conditioning period (i.e., acclimation phase (21 days), preconditioning phase (28 days)) and reproductive performance period (40 days), was assessed.…”

Improving the Reproductive Performance of Domesticated Giant Tiger Shrimp, Penaeus monodon

“…This result is inconsistent with former studies which have reported improved growth of juvenile shrimp when fed diets including MB , Glencross et al, 2013, Anand et al, 2014, Glencross et al, 2015. There are several factors that may have contributed to the growth rates observed in the present study.…”