Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2008 Measurement of nutrient availability in feedstuffs for Florida pompano and development of formulated diets for pompano aquaculture Craig Gothreaux Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Environmental Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Gothreaux, Craig, "Measurement of nutrient availability in feedstuffs for Florida pompano and development of formulated diets for pompano aquaculture" (2008). LSU Master's Theses. 2783. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/2783 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MEASUREMENT OF NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY IN FEEDSTUFFS FOR FLORIDA POMPANO AND DEVELOPMENT OF FORMULATED DIETS FOR POMPANO AQUACULTURE A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in The School of Renewable Natural Resources by Craig Gothreaux B.S., Louisiana State University, 2003 December, 2008 i My fish, why fish, do you die fish? Why do you pass away, while you’re still young and gay? Wouldn’t you rather, live a little longer; so that when you die fish, you can be on my dish? ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my major professor, Dr. Robert C. Reigh, LSU Aquaculture Research Station and School of Renewable Natural Resources, for his encouragement, patience, support, and guidance throughout my studies at LSU. I also thank my other committee members: Dr. Edward J. Chesney, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, and Dr. D. Allen Rutherford, LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources, for their assistance, advice, and shared knowledge. I thank Louisiana Sea Grant College Program for funding this research. I am especially thankful to Dr. John P. Hawke, LSU Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory for his time and expertise. I thank Millie B. Williams and Biswamitra Patro for their help in the nutrition laboratory. I am also grateful to the many graduate students, student workers, and friends that helped with my project either in the laboratory or collecting fish. I thank my parents Richard and Cathy Gothreaux, for their unwavering love, and providing me with the opportunities that have allowed me to accomplish my goals. I thank my family and friends for their encouragement and support. I especially thank Mary Duffy for her love, motivation, patience, and understanding. Finally, I dedicate this thesis to my best friend Raven Simone Terwilliger Shabadu Junior. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................................................ iii LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................................ ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 Background ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Biology ...................................................................................................................................................... 2 Ecology ..................................................................................................................................................... 9 Fishery ..................................................................................................................................................... 9 Aquaculture ............................................................................................................................................ 10 CHAPTER 2: DIGESTIBILITY TRIALS TO DETERMINE NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY IN COMMON FEEDSTUFFS FOR FLORIDA POMPANO ......................................................................................................................................... 18 Introduction and Objective .................................................................................................................... 18 Materials and Methods ......................................................................................................................... .19 Results and Discussion .......................................................................................................................... .24 Energy ........................................................................................................................................... .24 Protein........................................................................................................................................... .27 Amino Acids .................................................................................................................................. .29 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................ .37 CHAPTER 3: GROWTH OF FLORIDA POMPANO FED DIETS CONTAINING GRADED LEVELS OF PROTEIN AT A FIXED ENERGY‐TO‐PROTEIN RATIO .................................................................................................................... .39 Introduction and Objective ................................................................................................................... .39 Materials and Methods .......................................................................................................................... 41 Results ................................................................................................................................................... .47 Discussion .............................................................................................................................................. .52 CHAPTER 4: SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... 60 LITERATURE CITED .......................................................................................................................................... .64 APPENDIX A: ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS THESIS ............................................................................................... 72 APPENDIX B: COLLECTION AND QUARANTINE OF JUVENILE FLORIDA POMPANO ......................................................... 73 VITA .............................................................................................................................................................. 74 iv LIST OF TABLES 2.1 Composition of the experimental diets used for the Florida pompano digestibility trials. Test diets were comprised of 70% of the reference diet plus 30% of the test ingredient (SM = soybean meal, MB = meat and bone meal, FM = fish meal, CG = corn grain) ............................... 21 2.2 Information on juvenile pompano involved in the digestibility trials. The first column is the date that the juveniles were collected from Grand Isle, Louisiana. The second column identifies the digestibility trial in which the fish were used (soybean meal [SM], fish meal [FM], meat and bone meal [MB], and corn grain [CG]), with the number in parenthesis being the attempt at each trial. Column three is the start date of the trial; column seven is the finish date. Those trials without a finish date are the ones that terminated prematurely (reason listed). Columns 4‐6 are the mean number of fish per tank at the start of each growth trial, the mean weight (g) and mean length (cm), respectively. The final column indicates the number of fecal collections needed to obtain the desired 5 g of dried fecal material .......................................................................................... 23 2.3 Apparent energy digestibility (AED), apparent crude protein digestibility (ACPD), and the range for apparent amino acid availability (AAAA) contained in various feedstuffs for Florida pompano Trachinotus carolinus. Values (mean ± SD) in each column that share the same letter are not significantly different (P > 0.05) ..................................................................................................... 25 2.4 Apparent digestibility coefficients for gross energy (AED) in soybean meal (SM), fish meal (FM), meat and bone meal (MB), and corn grain (CG) for Florida pompano and other species ............ 26 2.5 Apparent digestibility coefficients for crude protein (ACPD) in soybean meal (SM), fish meal (FM), meat and bone meal (MB), and corn grain (CG) for Florida pompano and other species ... 28 2.6 Apparent amino acid availability (AAAA) of soybean meal (SM), fish meal (FM), meat and bone meal (MB), and