Version 1
: Received: 14 August 2024 / Approved: 14 August 2024 / Online: 15 August 2024 (12:24:28 CEST)
How to cite:
Palma, J.; Correia, M.; Andrade, J. P.; Bureau, D. Replacement of Fish Meal with Crustacean Meals in Diets for Long Snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus: Digestibility and Growth Performance. Preprints2024, 2024081089. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1089.v1
Palma, J.; Correia, M.; Andrade, J. P.; Bureau, D. Replacement of Fish Meal with Crustacean Meals in Diets for Long Snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus: Digestibility and Growth Performance. Preprints 2024, 2024081089. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1089.v1
Palma, J.; Correia, M.; Andrade, J. P.; Bureau, D. Replacement of Fish Meal with Crustacean Meals in Diets for Long Snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus: Digestibility and Growth Performance. Preprints2024, 2024081089. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1089.v1
APA Style
Palma, J., Correia, M., Andrade, J. P., & Bureau, D. (2024). Replacement of Fish Meal with Crustacean Meals in Diets for Long Snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus: Digestibility and Growth Performance. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1089.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Palma, J., José Pedro Andrade and Dominique Bureau. 2024 "Replacement of Fish Meal with Crustacean Meals in Diets for Long Snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus: Digestibility and Growth Performance" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1089.v1
Abstract
This study investigated the effect of partially replacing fish meal with krill and copepod meals in inert diets, co-fed with shrimp, on the growth and nutrient digestibility of long-snout seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus). A control diet (Diet 1) using raw starch and four experimental diets with similar protein (≈44.8%) and energy (≈15.1 MJ/kg) levels were tested. Diet 2 used fish meal as the sole protein source, while in Diets 3-5, krill and copepod meals replaced 44% of the fish meal. Seahorses fed Shrimp + Diets 2-5 showed significantly higher growth rates (P < 0.05) than those fed Shrimp + Diet 1, though there were no significant growth differences among Diets 2-5. Digestibility of dry matter (46.1% to 72.2%), lipids (73.3% to 85.5%), crude protein (89.8% to 95.8%), energy (82% to 92.2%), and phosphorus (28.7% to 64.4%) varied with diet, being consistently lower in seahorses fed Shrimp + Diet 1. As an agastric species, H. guttulatus did not exhibit impaired digestibility for any of the tested nutrients, minerals, or energy. This study suggests that crustacean meals can effectively substitute fish meal in inert diets for this species, contributing to the sustainability and optimization of captive seahorse husbandry practices.
Keywords
Seahorse; Hippocampus guttulatus; digestibility; fish meal; crustacean meals
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science and Zoology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
