Effect of fish meal replacement by zooplankton and Daphnia meal on growth performance parameters of the white leg shrimp, Penaeus vannamei

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine how well zooplankton meal (ZM) and Daphnia meal (DM) might replace fish meal (FM) in the diet of white leg shrimp, Penaeus vannamei, without negatively impacting the shrimp's growth performance or feed intake. A total of 315 shrimp fry were employed, and the shrimp were randomly assigned to one of seven treatment groups, with three replicates per group. Here are the seven diets that were tested: C = fed commercial diet (control group); Z = fish meal replaced by zooplankton meal at 25%, 50%, and 75%; and D = fish meal replaced by Daphnia meal at 25%, 50%, and 75%. The protein composition of all the experimental diets was equalised by structural adjustments (40 % protein). Z 50 and D 75 , in which 50% and 75% of fishmeal were replaced by zooplankton meal and Daphnia meal, respectively, showed the highest values of growth performance parameters (final length, length gain, final weight, weight gain, and daily weight gain) and feed utilisation parameters (food conversion ratio, feed efficiency ratio, and protein efficiency ratio).The larvae of White leg shrimp, Penaeus vannamei, showed substantial improvements in growth performance and feed utilisation metrics when fishmeal was replaced with zooplankton meal or Daphnia meal.