Digestible protein requirements and muscle growth in juvenile tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum)

Abstract

Several investigations have been carried out to improve the productivity of tambaqui, an economically important fish species in Brazil and other Latin American countries. This study determined the digestible protein (DP) requirements in juvenile tambaqui by assessing their productive performance and nutritional efficiency. It also evaluated the effects of different dietary DP levels on the morphology and cellularity of skeletal fast muscle fibres. The 1750 tambaqui tested (6.53 ± 0.43 g body weight, 7.58 ± 0.18 cm length) were randomly distributed into 35 tanks. Fish were fed one of the seven isocaloric diets, which contained 140, 170, 200, 230, 260, 290 or 320 g/kg DP. The DP requirement, calculated by segmented (broken line) regression of weight gain data, was 290 g/kg. An increase in diet DP to 290 g/kg significantly improved final weight, weight gain, feed intake, specific growth rate and crude protein gain, and changed fibre diameter in deep muscle. Muscle fibres were randomly distributed into a mosaic pattern, characterized by fibres with different diameters. Treatments with 290 and 320 g/kg DP increased the frequency of large‐diameter fibres (>50 µm), indicating hypertrophic growth of skeletal muscle during the juvenile phase, which occurred in conjunction with hyperplasia.

Effects of dietary protein levels on the growth, body composition, serum biochemistry and digestive enzyme activity in Chinese rice field eel ( Monopterus albus ) fingerlings

“…Similar result was also found in Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus , whose optimal protein level was 30% in immature grow‐out stage and 40% in reproduction stage (Al Hafedh, ; El‐Sayed, Mansour, & Ezzat, ). The result divergences between our study and previous studies on M. albus might be due to the different lipid levels adopted in the diets, as well as the different dietary protein sources, fish strain and experimental environment used (Buzollo et al, ; Ye et al, ).…”

“…In this study, the values of FCR for M. albus (from 2.10 to 3.39, Table ) were higher than that reported in other fish (Buzollo et al, ; Schuchardt et al, ). Similar results with high FCR value were also found in previous studies on M. albus (Pan, Gong, & Tian, ; Yang, Chen, Li, & Liu, ).…”

Protein‐sparing effect by dietary lipid increase in juveniles of the hybrid fish tambatinga (♀ Colossoma macropomum × ♂ Piaractus brachypomus )

“…In that regard, the ideal energy:protein ratio of tambatinga (13.7 kcal DE/g CP) presented within of the limits previously known (from 9 to 15 kcal DE/g CP) for different species of the genus Colossoma and Piaractus (Bicudo et al, ; Guimarães & Martins, ; Nascimento Filho et al, ). Although in absolute terms protein requirement of tambatinga is lower than that estimated for tambaqui in previous studies (Buzollo et al, ; Guimarães & Martins, ), its optimal energy:protein ratio is very close of that determined by Nascimento Filho et al () for C. macropomum .…”

“…In this way, the results of the present research also suggest that the protein requirements of the hybrid tambatinga are lower than those estimated for C. macropomum juveniles (280–480 g/kg CP) and P. brachypomus (316 g/kg CP), as reported, respectively, by Guimarães and Martins () and Vásquez‐Torres, Pereira‐Filho, and Arias‐Castellanos (). Additionally, the digestible protein (DP) requirement of tambaqui was estimated at 290 g/kg (equivalent to 330 g kg of CP) by Buzollo et al (). Thus, considering that DP requirement estimated of tambaqui was higher than CP requirement determined for tambatinga, the hypothesis of lower protein requirement of this hybrid is corroborated.…”

Phosphorus Requirement of Tambaqui Fingerlings

“…Owing to their productivity and marketability, tambaqui is the most cultivated fish species in the State of Maranhão, with a production of 10,501 thousand tons (11.8% of national production) in 2017 (IBGE 2019;BUZOLLO et al, 2019). However, there is a lack of information regarding tambaqui nutritional requirements, as highlighted in recent reviews by Dairiki and Silva (2011) and Oliveira, Miranda and Correa (2013).…”