COMPARATIVE GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF EARLY JUVENILE HALIOTIS
ASININA FED VARIOUS ARTIFICIAL DIETS
M. Kruatrachue, S. Sawatpeera, Y. Chitramvong, P.
Sonchaeng, E.S. Upatham, S. Sangpradub-2004
Journal of Shellfish Research, 23(1): 197-203
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to compare artificial
diets for early juvenile abalone, Haliotis asinina, containing
different sources of protein. Juvenile H. asinina with mean initial
shell length of 5.3-5.6 mm were fed artificial diets for 90 days. Diets
contained 30% crude protein from different sources: casein, fish meal,
soybean meal, and rice bran. The diets were fed to abalone at 5-10% body
weight once daily in the afternoon. Abalone fed Acanthophora sp.
served as a control. The results showed that the abalone fed fresh Acanthophora
sp. and those receiving the casein-based diet had the highest growth
rates in shell length (96.7 ± 8.0 µm/day and 96.3 ± 6.7 p.m/day,
respectively). Those fed the casein-based diet showed the highest growth
rate in weight (8.6 ± 0.3 mg/day). The best survival rates were found in
abalone fed Acanthophora sp., the soybean-based diet and the
casein-based diet (88.9%, 81.1 %, and 78.9%, respectively). The casein diet
yielded the maximum rate of growth and survival.
(Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok
10400 Thailand, e-mail: scmkt@mahidol.ac.th)