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Six purified diets were formulated to determine the optimum dietary lipid levels of pengba, Osteobrama belangeri juveniles. Experiment trials were conducted for 60 days to evaluate growth performance, total lipid, lipase activity and fatty acids by inclusion of fish and sunflower oil (ratio 1:1) in the diet. The dietary lipid level showed a significant (p<0.05) effect on weight gain and specific growth rate, higher weight gain observed in fish fed with 6% and 8% lipid diets. Total lipid content varied among the dietary treatments significantly (p<0.05) and highest total lipid content (4.29%) was observed in the liver of fish fed with 8% lipid diet. Lipase activity was found significantly (p<0.05) different among the tissues fed with dietary lipids and the activity of lipase was found highest in the liver followed by intestine and muscle of fish fed with 6% lipid. The fatty acid composition of muscle varied with dietary lipid levels due to the significant levels of total SAFA, MUFA and PUFA. Fish fed with 6 to 8% lipid levels showed best growth performance with higher gut lipase activity. The optimum dietary lipid requirement of pengba juveniles attained at 7.2% to succeed maximum growth revealed by second order polynomial regression analysis (r² =0.86). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, commonly called 'scampi,' is the most important culturable freshwater species of prawn with a fairly high growth rate, wide range of temperature (15-35°C) and salinity tolerance. The nutrients required by this species for growth and associated physiological functions are similar to those required by other crustaceans. Current data suggest that a digestible protein level of above 30% is required for maximum growth and protein efficiency. Ingredients such as mussel meat meal, squid meal, and shrimp meal serve as potential sources of protein in formulated diets. The complete quantitative requirements for all the essential amino acids for this prawn species have not yet been worked out. With respect to non-protein energy supply in the form of carbohydrate, studies indicated that scampi is capable of utilizing various carbohydrate sources efficiently. Dietary carbohydrate in the form of complex polysaccharides appears to be more effective as an energy source. Like other crustaceans, scampi also has limited ability to synthesize sterol from acetate and mevalonic acid. Quantitative estimates of the essential fatty acid require-ments have been made in post-larval scampi. Data on vitamin and mineral requirements are scarce. Recent developments in diet formulation, practical feeding practices and the aquaculture potential in India have been indicated with emphasis on sustainable production. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Fermented silkworm pupae (SWP) silage or untreated fresh SWP pastes were incorporated in carp feed formulations replacing fishmeal. The feed formulations were isonitrogenous (30.2-30.9% protein) and isocaloric (ME = 2905-2935 kcal/kg). Feeding under a polyculture system consisting of 30% each of catla (Catla catla), mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala) and rohu (Labeo rohita) with 10% silver carps (Hypophthalmychthys molitrix) was carried out in ponds to evaluate the nutritive quality of SWP silage. Survival rate, feed conversion ratio and specific growth rate, respectively, were 84.2%, 2.10 and 2.39 for fermented SWP silage, 65.8%, 2.98 and 2.26 for untreated SWP and 67.5%, 3.16 and 2.20 for fishmeal indicating clearly that the fermented SWP silage was nutritionally superior to untreated SWP or fishmeal. The dietary influence on the proximate composition of whole fish was marginal.