Effect of Formulated Feed as a Subsitute for Live Feed on Growth Performances, Biochemical Composition and Digestive Enzyme Activities of Asian Stinging Catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch, 1794) Larvae
Effect of Formulated Feed as a Subsitute for Live Feed on Growth Performances, Biochemical Composition and Digestive Enzyme Activities of Asian Stinging Catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch, 1794) Larvae
Momotaz Khanom*, Sheikh Mustafizur Rahman, Muhammad Yousuf Ali, Md. Shahin Parvez, Al-Hasan Antu, Md. Nazmul Ahsan
ABSTRACT
Substitute of live feed in mass production of fish larvae has recently drawn a great attention due to inadequate supply and inconsistent price. The present study evaluated the effects of early introduction of formulated feed as a substitute for live feed on growth performances of Asian stinging catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis larvae reared in laboratory conditions. Three-day-old larvae hatched through induced breeding (2.0±0.00016 mg; 0.57±0.09cm) were subjected to four feeding treatments in triplicates (100 larvae/aquarium). The catfish larvae were fed with live Tubifex (LT), dry Tubifex (DT), formulated feed (FF), and commercial feed (CF) two times a day for 60 days. Results showed that larvae fed with formulated feed (FF) grew significantly faster than the other treatments (p<0.05). The weight gains were observed as 2.6 g in FF; 2.0 g in CF and 1.9g in LT and 1.54g in DT, respectively. Similarly, FF showed the highest specific growth rate (SGR) of 11.85±0.71%, but significantly differed only from that of DT (SGR=11.1; P< 0.5). Length-weight analysis revealed that the growth of larvae in all treatments showed negative allometric growth (regression slope b ˂3). The highest b value (2.64) was observed in larvae fed with FF. Proximate analysis showed that larvae fed with FF had significantly higher protein content than the other treatments (p<0.05). Water quality parameters remained optimum throughout the experimental period. The feeds used in treatments did not show any deleterious effect on survival. Physiologically, FF led to significantly higher amylase activity in comparison to other feeds, while protease activity was comparable among the feeds except for DT. The results suggest that formulated feed can be used as a potential substitute for live Tubifex for the early stage of larvae of stinging catfish.
Keywords | Enzyme activity, Formulated feed, Growth performance, Stinging catfish, Tubifex
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