Replacement of Fishmeal by Mixed Animal and Plant Protein Sources in Diets for Juvenile Mangrove Red Snapper (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) (Forsskål, 1775)

A feeding trial was undertaken to develop a low fishmeal practical diet for mangrove red snapper (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) by replacing 60% fishmeal (FM) protein with either soybean meal (SM) or peanut meal (PM), and 10% fish soluble (FS) or krill meal (KM) supplementation. Seven isonitrogenous (crude protein: 40% dry matter) and isolipidic (crude lipid: 9% dry matter) diets were prepared (FM100, FM40+SM, FM40+SM+FS, FM40+SM+KM, FM40+PM, FM40+PM+FS, FM40+PM+ KM. Triplicate groups of fish (initial body weight: 1.46±0.02 g, mean ± S.E.M) were stocked in 150L circular fiberglass tanks at a density of 18 fish per tank. Results showed no significant (p>0.05) differences in final body weight (FBW) values or weight gain (WG) between fish fed the FM100 diet, and those fed FM40+SM, FM40+SM+FS and FM40+SM+KM diets. For fish fed the FM40+PM diet, WG was significantly lower when compared with fish fed the other experiment diets. Supplementation of 10% FS or KM improved growth parameters of fish fed diets containing PM. Feed efficiency (FE), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and protein productive value (PPV) showed similar tendencies to the growth indices. No significant differences in feed intake (FI) were observed among all the different dietary treatments. Significant lower whole-body protein and lipid content were recorded in fish fed FM40+PM diet. The present study indicates that 60% of fishmeal protein can be replaced by soybean meal or by a mixture of peanut meal and 10% FS or KM without affecting growth performance of Lutjanus argentimaculatus