“…Wild macroalgae on the other hand, are known to have a comparatively low protein content ranging from 4 -20 % (Mercer et al 1993, Fleming et al 1996, Fleurence et al 1999, Tahil and JuinioMenez 1999, Rosen et al 2000, Bautista-Teruel et al 2002, Demetropoulos and Langdon 2004a, 2004b, Dlaza et al 2008, Robertson-Andersson et al 2008) that result in relatively slow growth in abalone (Fleming 1995b, Fleming et al 1996, Rosen et al 2000, Kruatrachue et al 2004, Lee 2004, Neori et al 2004). Previous growth studies on H. midae (Cook and Claydon 1991, Owen et al 1984, Stepto and Cook 1993, Simpson and Cook 1998) that used macroalgae as feed, have used only wild, relatively low-protein macroalgae that whether fed as single-species, or in combination as mixed diets, have never been able to produce growth comparable to that obtained with feeds relatively high in crude protein (Viana et al 1993, Fleming 1995a,b, Fleming et al 1996, Bautista-Teruel and Millamena 1999, Bautista-Teruel et al 2002, Kruatachue et al 2004, Lee 2004). To overcome this deficiency, Shpigel et al (1999) suggested that it would be necessary to feed protein-enriched U. lactuca together with wild macroalgae as part of a mixed diet in order to achieve commercially acceptable growth rates.…”