The development of a purified diet and nutritional requirement of lysine in penaeid shrimp

Abstract

Various studies for the development of a purified diet for penaeid shrimp were investigated. No difference in food-seeking behavior and diet consumption was observed in shrimp fed diets with attractant mixtures of 6% and 10%. Diet consumption was highest with a squid attractant mixture, although diet consumption was observed with a defined attractant mixture consisting of 3% glycine, 1% alanine, 1% glutamate, and 1% betaine. Considerable leaching of crystalline amino acids occurred when diets were immersed in seawater. A 2% alginate and 1.5% sodium hexametaphosphate binder mixture was best to reduce crystalline amino acid leaching. The apparent digestibilities for dry matter, protein, and amino acids were determined for various feedstuffs for Penaeus vannamei. Purified feedstuffs were more efficiently digested than practical feedstuffs. There were no differences in apparent protein digestibilities between proteins of animal or plant origins. In general, arginine, lysine, and glutamate were most efficiently digested, while alanine had the lowest apparent digestibility value. A purified diet, experimental system, and methodology were described. The purified diet supported 1220% growth with 91% survival in 14 days. The lysine requirement was determined for postlarval P. vannamei. Growth studies indicated that the quantitative lysine requirement was 3.1% of the protein.