Dietary lipid level affects growth performance and nutrient utilisation of Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) juveniles

• Published in: British journal of nutrition 2009-10, Vol.102 (7), p.1007-1014
• Main Authors: Borges, Pedro, Oliveira, Beatriz, Casal, Susana, Dias, Jorge, Conceição, Luis, Valente, Luísa M. P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: animal growth; animal nutrition; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena - physiology; animal performance; Animal populations; Animals; Aquaculture - methods; Biological and medical sciences; Body Composition - drug effects; Diet; dietary fat; Dietary Fats - administration & dosage; Dietary Fats - pharmacology; Dietary lipid tolerance; Eating - drug effects; experimental diets; Fatty Acids - metabolism; Feed conversion; Feed science; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Fish; fish culture; fish feeding; Flatfish; Flatfishes - growth & development; Flatfishes - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Growth - drug effects; juveniles; lean fish; lipid content; lipid metabolism; Lipid Metabolism - drug effects; Lipid nutrition; Lipids; Metabolism and Metabolic Studies; Muscle, Skeletal - metabolism; Nutrient retention; nutrient utilization; Nutritive value; Physical growth; Protein-sparing effect; seafoods; Senegalese sole; sole; Solea senegalensis; tissue analysis; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Weight Gain - drug effects
• ISSN: 0007-1145; 1475-2662
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007114509345262

Over the last few years, several aspects of Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) culture have been developed and optimised but the dietary lipid level for optimal growth has never been determined. Hence, five isonitrogenous diets (56 % dietary protein) with increasing dietary lipid levels (4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 % DM) were fed to satiation to triplicate groups of twenty fish (mean initial weight 10 g). Fifteen tanks were randomly assigned one of the five diets. Feed was distributed using automatic feeders, and fish were fed over a 16-week period. At the end of the experiment the fish fed on diets containing the two lowest dietary lipid levels (4 and 8 %) showed a 3-fold body-weight increase with a significantly higher daily growth index than fish fed higher lipid levels (1·2 v. 0·8). Moreover, these fish displayed a significantly lower dry feed intake (12 g/kg per d) and feed conversion ratio (1·0) compared with fish fed higher lipids levels (16–19 g/kg per d; feed conversion ratio 2·0). Low dietary lipid levels (