Soybean meal in diets for juveniles of pirarucu

Abstract

In order to assess the effects of replacing fishmeal (FM) protein by soybean meal (SM) for juveniles of pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) feeds, five isonitrogenous (46% CP) and isocaloric (4,800 kcal kg-1 GE) diets containing 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60% replacement were tested. One hundred and five fish (233.5 ± 11.5 g) were distributed in fifteen 200-L tanks, fed three times daily to apparent satiation for 120 days. The highest growth rates were observed in diets with up to 30% replacement, but no significant difference was detected as regards to specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio, mean daily feed intake and mean daily protein intake in fish fed diets with up to 45% FM replacement. Survival rate, condition factor, hepatosomatic and viscerosomatic indexes were not influenced by the treatments, just as the biochemical analyses were not, except for cholesterol. Fish fed diets with increasing levels of SM presented lower hematological values, and higher mean corpuscular value, indicating probable anemia at 60% FM replacement and hypocholesterolemia. Diets with 15 and 30% FM replacement were the most cost effective suggesting that SM can replace up to 30% of FM in diets for pirarucu juveniles (200 to 1,200 g), without compromising growth performance, fish health, feed digestibility and feed cost effectiveness. © 2018, Instytut Technologii Drewna. All rights reserved.