Recent advances in European sea bass and gilthead sea bream nutrition

A. Oliva-Teles-2000
Aquaculture International, 8 (6): 477-492

Abstract:
European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) are amongst the most important finfish species cultured in the Mediterranean region. Production of these species is nowadays a well-controlled process, but knowledge of their nutritional requirements is still very limited. Nevertheless, a considerable amount of data has been accumulated in recent years, and the purpose of this paper is to review the recent advances on the nutritional requirements of sea bass and sea bream. The optimum protein to energy ratio of the diets of sea bass and sea bream seem to be higher than for salmonids, and there is some evidence that high dietary lipid levels have no beneficial effects on fish performances. Although the essential amino acid requirements were estimated by the ideal protein method, data based on the dose-response method is only available for a few amino acids. Essential fatty acid requirements were estimated for sea bream juveniles but data are lacking for sea bass. Vitamin and mineral requirements of these species are practically unknown. Although the importance of broodstock nutrition on gonadal development, spawning and egg quality is recognized, few studies were done to elucidate these aspects. The recent development of microparticulate diets for larvae will contribute to the accurate evaluation of their nutritional requirements.

(Departamento de Zoologia e Antropologia e CIMAR, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal, E-mail: aoteles@fc.up.pt)

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