Five diets, i.e., fish flesh (FF), shrimp flesh (SF), clam foot (CF), polychaete worm (PW), a formulated diet (FD), and a mixture of the preceding five diets (MD), were fed to Chinese shrimp, Fenneropenaeus chinensis (initial weight 1.53 ± 0.05 g) for 30 days to investigate the effects of different diets on the energy allocation and body composition of Chinese shrimp. It was found that the model of allocation of ingested energy changed according to diet, and significant differences existed among treatments. Moisture, protein, lipid, ash content, and gross energy content of shrimp fed different diets also showed significant differences. The relationships between food conversion efficiency (FCE) and gross energy to protein content ratio (GE : P), between net conversion efficiency (NCE) and GE : P, between FCE and lipid content (L), and between NCE and L were well expressed with their respective models. The optimal crude lipid (L) content and GE : P were calculated from these models on the assumption that when optimal FCE and NCE were reached, then the L and GE : P were optimum. The optimal crude lipid contents were 23.1%, 29.08%, 19.82%, and 24.93% while the FCE and NCE were described in terms of protein and energy. When FCE and NCE were described in terms of dry matter, protein, and energy, the optimal GE : P were 36.11 KJ/g, 38.75 KJ/g, 37.22 KJ/g, 37.43 KJ/g, 38.49 KJ/g, and 37.32 KJ/g, respectively. The results indicate that natural diets are feasible to be used for studying the nutritional requirements and to analyse the primary ingredients that affect the utilization of these by the shrimp.
RÉSUMÉCinq types de nourriture, soit la chair de poisson (FF), la chair de crevette (SF), le pied de coquillage (CF), les vers polychètes (PW), une formule composée (FD), et un mélange des cinq précédents types (MD), ont été proposés à la crevette chinoise Fenneropenaeus chinensis (poids initial 1,53 ± 0,05 g) pendant 30 jours, afin d'étudier les effets des différentes nourritures sur le gain d'énergie et la composition du corps de la crevette chinoise. On a mis en évidence que le modèle de répartition de l'énergie ingérée variait suivant l'aliment, et des différences significatives existaient en fonction des traitements. L'humidité, les protéines, les lipides, le contenu en cendres