Nine isoenergetic (18.5 kJ g−1) diets were formulated in a 3 × 3 factorial design to contain three protein levels (350, 400 and 450 g kg−1) for each of three lipid levels (65, 90 and 115 g kg−1), respectively, and fed twice daily for 8 weeks to fish of mean initial weight 3.34 ± 0.02 g reared in a re‐circulatory water system. Temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) were maintained within the range 28–30 °C, 5.6–6.8 and 4.82–6.65 mg L−1 respectively throughout. Results show that fish survival was better in the groups fed 65 g kg−1 lipid while growth performance (% weight gain, WG; specific growth rate, SGR) and nutrient utilization (feed conversion ratio, FCR; protein efficiency ratio, PER; protein intake, PI) in the 65/450 and 90/450 g kg−1 treatments were similar and significantly (P < 0.05) higher than in fish fed the other lipid/protein ratio combinations. The body indices monitored (Hepatosomatic index, HSI and viscerosomatic index, VSI) were similar among the treatments whereas intestinal lipase activity was not significantly (P < 0.05) affected by increase in dietary lipid and protein levels. Carcass composition showed that dietary protein level affected body protein content positively in the 65 and 90 g kg−1 lipid treatments, but dietary lipid level did not affect body lipid content. A lipid/protein ratio of 65/450 g kg−1 is considered adequate for good growth performance and survival of Channa striatus fry.

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The discus fish (Symphysodon aequifasciata) is a cichlid demonstrating advanced mode of parental care towards fry. Both male and female fish utilized epidermal mucus secreted from specialized epidermal cells to feed developing fry. We utilized proteomics to compare protein profile from parental and nonparental fish. Gel analysis revealed a total of 35 spots that were up-regulated in parental mucus. In tandem, another 18 spots were uniquely expressed in parental mucus. MS analysis of these spots identified proteins such as fructose biphosphate aldolase, nucleoside diphosphate kinase, and heat shock proteins, which are essential to support energy provision, cell repair and proliferation, stress mediation, and defense mechanism in parental fish during parental-care period. Concurrently, the detection of several antioxidant-related proteins such as thioredoxin peroxidase and hemopexin suggests a need to overcome oxidative stress during hypermucosal production in parental-care behavior. A C-type lectin was also found to be uniquely expressed in parental mucus and could have important role in providing antimicrobial defense to both parental fish and fry. In summary, our study shows that discus mucus proteome undergoes changes in protein expression during parental-care period.

Many fish species can withstand long period of food deprivation and consequently compensate for any weight loss by undergoing rapid growth during resumption of feeding. There is an interest in taking advantage of compensatory growth to reduce feed cost. In this present study, we attempted to compare the changes in hepatic mitochondrial proteome of zebrafish undergoing starvation and refeeding. Two‐dimensional gel separation and image analysis revealed a total of 65 spots that showed changes in expression after 15 days of starvation followed by 7 days of refeeding. A total of 35 proteins were selected for mass spectrometry analysis, resulting in the positive identification of 18 proteins. Identified proteins indicated that starvation resulted in reduction in glycolysis and increase in gluconeogenesis, while refeeding caused these activities to return to normal levels. Expression pattern of several proteins related to fatty acid and amino acid metabolism also suggested the utilization of non‐carbohydrate resources for energy during starving conditions. Proteins with chaperoning and antioxidative roles such as glucose‐regulated protein, paraxonase and heat‐shock protein were also upregulated in starved conditions.

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