Young red‐spotted grouper Epinephelus akaara with an average total length of 3.4 cm were divided into five groups in floating net‐cages, and reared under satiated conditions with different feeding frequencies (0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 8 times per day) for 40 days. Total food intake increased with feeding frequency. Feeding four times per day resulted in the highest growth and food conversion efficiency. Total lipid accumulation in the muscle, liver and intraperitoneal fat body (IPF) increased with feeding frequency. Red‐spotted grouper were found to contain a high proportion of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the muscle. Fish fed 0.5 times per day were characterized as having a high proportion of DHA in triglycerides (TG) in muscle (80%), liver (69%) and IPF (18%). Increasing saturated fatty acids and a relative reduction of DHA were observed in the muscle TG as the feeding frequency increased. Frequent feeding accelerated the accumulation of eicosapentaenoic acid and saturated acids in the liver and IPF. Low saturated acids and a subsidiary proportional increase in DHA were the result of the low lipid reserves. A possible role for DHA and saturated acids are discussed with regard to lipid reserves.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.