Search

We observed yellow catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco fingerlings cultured in land ponds in Korea swimming in a corkscrew spiral pattern while hanging head-up and tail-down at the water surface, before eventually dying. Externally, these fish displayed “hole in the head” disease, pale gills, and hemorrhages in the base of the pectoral and caudal fins; internally they had liver hemorrhages and kidney discoloration. The bacterium Edwardsiella ictaluri (YCK-01 and YCL-01) was identified in the kidneys and livers of diseased fish via phenotypic characteristics and PCR analysis using the ictaluri-specific primers IVS (an intervening sequence) and IRS (the inter-ribosomal spacer). Infectivity challenges by intraperitoneal and immersion routes showed that a representative bacterial strain (YCK) exhibited strong virulence to yellow catfish, with an LD50 of 3.2×104 CFU/fish and 2.5×106 CFU/mL, respectively. This is the first report of E. ictaluri infection in yellow catfish from Korea.

This study investigated the utilization of beef tallow and dextrin as non-protein energy sources in the diet of juvenile far eastern catfish Silurus asotus. Three replicated groups of juveniles (initial mean weight of 3.6 g) were fed diets containing high levels of beef tallow or dextrin for six weeks. The final mean weight of fish fed on a 17% lipid diet with a high level of beef tallow was significantly higher than that of fish fed on a 9% lipid diet with a high level of dextrin (P=0.04). No significant differences were observed in the feed efficiency and protein efficiency ration of fish fed on the experimental diets. Crude lipid content and the C18:0, 1n-9 and C18:2n-6 contents of whole-body fish were significantly affected by diet (P＜0.05). The results of this study suggest that beef tallow is better than dextrin as a non-protein energy source for improving the growth of juvenile far eastern catfish, and that beef tallow could be economically used as an ingredient in practical feed.

This study investigated the effects of dietary lipid sources on growth performance and body composition of juvenile far eastern catfish, Silurus asotus. Three replicate groups of fish (average weight 3.6 g) were fed with one of the following experimental diets containing 10% beef tallow (BT), 5% BT plus 5% corn oil (CO), 5% BT plus 5% linseed oil (LO), or 5% BT plus 5% squid liver oil (SO) as the lipid source for 5 weeks. No significant difference was observed in the survival among groups. The weight gain of fish fed the LO (high in 18:3n-3) and SO (high in n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acid) diets was significantly higher than that of the fish fed the CO (high in 18:2n-6) and BT diets (P

Two feeding trials were conducted to evaluate the soybean meal as a substitute for the fish meal in diet (experiment I), and experimental practical diet and commercial diet (experiment II) for growth of far eastern catfish. In the experiment I, three replicate groups of juveniles (average weight 7.2 g) were fed one of diets containing 0, 10 and 20% soybean meals for 66 days. Survival and final mean weight were not significantly affected by dietary soybean meal levels. No significant differences were observed in feed efficiency, protein efficiency ratio and protein retention of fish fed between 0% (control diet) and 20% soybean meal diets. However, fish fed 10% soybean meal diet showed the lower feed efficiency, protein efficiency ratio and protein retention, and higher daily feed intake compared with fish fed control diet and 20% soybean meal diet. The contents of moisture, crude protein, crude lipid and ash in the whole body were not significantly affected by dietary soybean meal levels. In the experiment II, three replicate groups of juveniles (average weight 7.3 g) were fed either the formulated diet or commercial diet for 66 days. Survival and final mean weight were not significantly different among treatment. Significantly higher feed efficiency, protein efficiency ratio and protein retention, and lower daily feed intake were observed in fish fed experimental practical diet compared with fish fed commercial diet (P