Effects of dietary lipid levels on growth, feed utilization, body composition, fatty acid profiles and antioxidant parameters of juvenile chu’s croaker Nibea coibor

The present study aimed at determining the growth performance, feed utilization, body composition and antioxidant status of chu’s croaker (Nibea coibor) juveniles fed with increasing levels of dietary lipid: 6 % (D6), 9 % (D9), 12 % (D12) and 15 % (D15). Each diet was assigned to triplicate groups of fish in a total of 12 floating pens (300 fish, 25 fish per pen). After a 49-day growth trial, survival rate was not affected. D12 and D15 led to significantly higher specific growth rate (SGR). Fish fed D12 showed the highest protein efficiency ratio (PER), protein and lipid retention efficiencies (PER and LRE, respectively). The hepatosomatic and viscerosomatic indexes (HIS and VSI, respectively) increased, while feed conversion ratio (FCR) and feed intake (FI) decreased. Body protein, ash and muscle lipid contents were not significantly affected, but significantly higher body and liver lipid were noticed in fish fed with D15. Monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) was found to decrease compared to the experimental diets in muscle, while high unsaturated fatty acid (HUFA) was selectively accumulated in all treatments. Serum alanine transaminase (ALT, 14.13–22.53 U/L), aspartate transaminase (AST, 34.31–51.25 U/L), cholesterol (CHO, 2.02–3.03 mmol/L) and triglyceride (TG, 5.61–8.50 mmol/L) were correlated with increasing dietary lipids. Liver malate dehydrogenase (MDA, 3.32–6.67 mmol/L) and superoxide dismutase (SOD, 42.69–52.86 U/mg prot) increased with dietary lipids, while total antioxidant capacity (t-AOC, 1.08–3.50 U/mg prot) decreased. Polynomial regression analyses between SGR and dietary lipid levels showed that the optimal dietary lipid requirement of chu’s croaker is 12.9 % of dry matter.