The nutritional management of barramundi, Lates calcarifer - a review

Abstract

Barramundi nutrition research has been undertaken since the 1980s. From that time to the present, the requirements for most nutrients, energy demand, ingredient utilization and the effects of nutrition on flesh quality aspects have all been examined to varying extents. Optimal protein content of diets has been shown to vary with diet energy density and also the size of fish that are being fed. Most studies have suggested a protein requirement from 450 to 550 g kg−1. For small fish, a protein to energy ratio of 25 to 30 g MJ−1 is suggested. Limited work has been carried out on fish larger than 500 g. The 10 essential amino acids for other fish are also considered to be required by barramundi. Proportional requirements have been identified for methionine, lysine and arginine. Protein utilization efficiency by barramundi has been estimated at 46% efficiency. Iteratively determined protein and amino acid requirements suggest that the requirement for protein and amino acids will decrease with increasing fish size and are largely consistent with empirically determined requirements. Lipid requirements for energy and essential fatty acids (EFAs) show that smaller fish performed the best with a dietary lipid level of 140–160 g kg−1, while growth of larger fish continued to improve with lipid levels up to 190 g kg−1, although no higher levels were examined. EFA requirements have been identified for long‐chain n‐3 fatty acids and minimum levels of 10 g kg−1 have been indicated. An optimal ratio of n‐3 to n‐6 fatty acids of 1.5 to 1.8:1 was also suggested. Barramundi have shown limited capacity to utilize dietary carbohydrates for energy, with starch digestibilities below 30% at even low inclusion levels. Barramundi also exhibit limited glycaemic control, being unable to rapidly reduce blood glucose levels. Requirements have been demonstrated for several key vitamins and quantitative requirements determined for varying forms of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Quantitative requirements have also been established for pyridoxine and pantothenic acid but only qualitative assessments for other key vitamins. Few mineral requirements have been identified. Phosphorus is the only mineral to be studied and a requirement between 5.5 and 6.5 g kg−1 is suggested. Energy demands of barramundi have been shown to be largely driven by thermodynamic demands on metabolic requirements and the demand for somatic energy deposition. Energy utilization by barramundi has been estimated as 68% efficient. Energy demands for maintenance are shown to be related to liveweight by an exponent of about 0.8. Variations in temperature are shown to vary the maintenance energy requirement but do not affect the efficiency of energy utilization. Feed management through feed specification selection has been shown to be possible through selection of feed protein and energy content based on the fish's change in somatic energy density. Typically, this leads to the use of lower protein and higher energy density feeds with larger fish. Ration allocation based on ch...

Postprandial molecular responses in the liver of the barramundi, Lates calcarifer

“…Two tanks, each containing 24 fish (99.3 ± 7.8 g and 99.4 ± 11.8 g, respectively), were fed to apparent satiety twice daily (0830 and 1600) using the diet outlined in Table 1. This diet was designed using optimal protein, lipid and energy requirements for barramundi of this size (Glencross et al 2006).…”

“…However, this introduces a range of complex carbohydrates, such as cellulose, polysaccharides and starches (Gatlin et al, 2007;. Whilst these complex carbohydrates do not form part of the natural diet for carnivorous fish, most fish species have gross energy (reviewed in Glencross et al 2006). Barramundi, like most fish, have no specific nutritional requirement for carbohydrates, and have been shown to be intolerant of high levels of simple carbohydrates compared with omnivorous and herbivorous fish (Allan et al 2003).…”

Effect of dietary amino acid composition from proteins alternative to fishmeal on the growth of juveniles of the common snook, Centropomus undecimalis

“…Conversely, this resulted in dietary EAA Lys −1 ratios below that of fish muscle. Estimations of EAA requirements in fish have also been made based on the composition of the body tissues relative to ratios of key amino acids to lysine (Glencross, 2006). However, balancing EAA Lys −1 is more effectively reached through the dietary supplementation of crystalline amino acids (Nunes et al, 2014).…”

“…During the acclimation period, fish were fed a diet containing 510 g kg −1 of crude protein and 120 g kg −1 of fat (as is basis), according to recommendations made for the common snook, C. undecimalis (Tucker, 1987), and the Asian seabass, L. calcarifer (Boonyaratpalin, 1997;Glencross, 2006). This diet was composed of (as fed basis) salmon byproduct meal (590.0 g kg ).…”

“…Compared with other emerging farm-raised warmwater marine fish, such as the Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer; Boonyaratpalin, 1997;Glencross, 2006), and cobia (Rachycentron canadum; Salze et al, 2010), limited information is available on feeding and nutrition of the common snook. Attempts to raise the species in captivity have relied on diets of fresh food (Tucker, 1987;Zarza-Meza et al, 2006a,b) or on feeds formulated for carnivorous freshwater fish (Gracia-López et al, 2003) or for other warm-water marine species (Soligo et al, 2011).…”