Effect of Dietary Protein Levels on Growth of Ompok pabda (Siluridae) Fry

Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology (2012) 12 : 241-246 Effect of Dietary Protein Levels on Growth of Ompok pabda (Siluridae) Fry B.N. Paul*, S. Das, A.K. Datta, S.S. Giri 1 and S.N. Mohanty 1 Wastewater Aquaculture Division Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Rahara, Kolkata-700 118, India (Received September 28, 2010) ABSTRACT Paul, B.N., Das, S., Datta, A.K., Giri, S.S. and Mohanty, S.N. 2012. Effect of dietary protein levels on growth of Ompok pabda (Siluridae) fry. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, 12: 241-246. An 80-day experiment was conducted to study the effect of different levels of dietary protein on growth, feed utilization and carcass composition of Ompok pabda fry. The feeds were prepared with three dietary levels of protein (Low, Medium and high), viz., 28 (LP 28), 33 (MP 33) and 38 (HP 38) percent on DM basis. Triplicate groups of O. pabda fry with mean initial body weight of 1.05 g were fed with the respective experimental diets, and were reared in tanks plumbed with flow through fresh water. The net weight gain was significantly higher (P<0.05) in LP33 compared to MP28 and HP38. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) of O. pabda fry was significantly (P<0.05) lower in MP33 and HP38 when compared to LP28. Protein efficiency ratio (PER) was significantly (P<0.01) lower for HP38 than MP33 and LP28.Carcass composition of O. pabda fry did not differ significantly with different level of protein. Thus from the present experiment it may be concluded that the O. pabda fry performed optimally on a diet with 33.2% crude protein. Key words: Butter catfish, Carcass composition, FCR, growth, Ompok pabda, Protein efficiency ratio. INTRODUCTION Ompok pabda, the freshwater Siluridae is popularly known as butter catfish and is native to India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. O. pabda due to its decrease in abundance and restricted distribution (Chakrabarti et al., 2009), the fish is not much available for Aquaculture. This decline in population is due to lack of its domestication in culture system and fishing during breeding seasons. O. pabda is a preferred fish with high market demand. As information about its feeding habit and nutrient requirement is scanty, this species has not received much attention for aquaculture. The breeding and seed production of the species has been reported earlier (Chakrabarti et al., 2009). In *Reprint request: Dr. B.N. Paul: E-mail: bnp63@rediffmail.com 1 Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar-751 002, India 241

Paul et al. order to develop its proper feeding regimen, studies on its nutrient requirements is essential. Protein influences growth of fish and determines the cost of feeding. Both quality and quantity of dietary protein are important determinants of protein utilization in fish. To quantify nutrient requirement semi purified or purified diets are generally used. To study the nutrient requirement in catfish, practical diets have been formulated to quantify the protein requirement as reported earlier (Li et al. 2008; Giri et al., 2003 and 2010). Though reports on nutrient requirement on minor carps are reported elsewhere (Paul et al., 2009 and 2010). However, some reports are available on other catfishes as reported by Giri et al. (2003) reported the protein requirement of Clarias batrachus larvae to be 36.5 and for Horabargus brachysoma fingerlingsthe crude protein requirement was worked out to be 35% crude protein (Giri et al., 2011). However, information is not available on the nutritional requirement of O. pabda fry. Therefore, attempt has been made to study the effect of feeding different levels of protein on growth performance of butter catfish, O. pabda. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three iso-energetic (3.20 kcal/g) diets having low (LP28), medium (MP33) and high (HP38) protein were formulated to contain 28, 33 and 38% CP, respectively (Table 1). Since digestible and metabolisable energy values of these feed ingredients are not known for Ompok pabda, therefore standard mammalian physiological fuel values, 4.23, 8.98 and 4.23 kcal/g for protein, lipid and carbohydrates, respectively have been considered to calculate the energy content of feeds, as have been reported in Horabagrus brachysoma (Giri et al., 2011). The ingredients were finely powdered and sieved through 200 mm mesh. The ingredients were weighed separately and after through mixing with water, fortified with vitaminmineral mixture and oil. The dough so obtained was extruded through a 1.0 mm diameter die in a feed pelletizer. The pellets were sun dried, crumbled and packed in plastic air tight containers and stored at -20 0 C. O. pabda fry, of average weight were grown through rearing of larvae at the institutional facilities.the larvae of O. pabda, collected from the field station of the institute at Kalyani, were reared initially by feeding live tubifex (Tubifex tubifex) a sludge worm, followed by formulated feed prior to start the experiment. The feeding study was conducted in nine fibre reinforced plastic tanks (150 L) plumbed with a flow through water system and the flow rate was maintained at 1 litre per min. To ensure oxygen saturation, the water in each tank was continuously aerated by air stones. Reservoir water fitted with stored ground water was used for rearing of fish. Triplicate tanks were allocated for each dietary treatments and each replicate had eleven pabda fry. Fishes were fed to satiation for 80 days. Feeds were offered at 9.30AM and 4.0 PM. Leftover feed, if any was siphoned out after 45 minutes of offering and dried over night at 105 0 C in a laboratory hot air oven. Daily DM intake was determined by subtracting the residue from offered feeds. At the end of the experiment individual body weight of all fish per tank were weighed. 242

Protein requirement of Ompok pabda Growth performance and feed utilization efficiency were assessed by recording final body weight, determining net body weight gain, specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) as per Paul et al.(2004).the triplicate samples of diets and carcass were analysed as per standard procedures (AOAC,1984). Water quality parameters were measured as per the method of APHA (1989). Data were analysed using one-way ANOVA (Snedecor and Cochran, 1968) and difference between the means were examined using least significance difference. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Ingredient and proximate composition of different feeds are presented in Table 1. Varied levels of protein in the three diets were as per the experimental protocol while other constituents were similar across the group. Because of the graded increase in protein levels, the total carbohydrate contents decreased linearly from 38.7% in LP28 to 24.9 % in HP38. The total ash content of diets increased linearly from LP28 to HP38, which could be attributed to the presence of higher levels of fish meal as a major feed ingredient. Water quality parameters, temperature, ph and dissolved oxygen ranged from 24.5-29 o C, 6.8-7.2 and 7.1-7.6 mg/l, respectively, during the experiment. The water Table 1. Ingredient composition and proximate composition of the experimental diets Particulars Experimental diets LP28 MP33 HP38 Ingredient composition (% on fresh basis) Fish meal 47 60 72 Corn powder 41 28 16 Carboxy-methyl cellulose 5 5 5 Soyabean oil 4 4 4 Vitamin-mineral mix 3 3 3 Chemical composition (% DM basis) Organic matter 80.9 79.3 77.5 Crude protein 28.2 33.2 38.1 Ether extract 6.5 7.0 6.8 Crude fibre 7.5 7.6 7.7 Total ash 11.1 12.1 13.5 Totalcarbohydrate 38.7 31.5 24.9 Nitrogen free extract 49.8 43.8 38.5 Energy (kcal/g) 3.25 3.21 3.13 Protein:energy ratio 28.2:3.25 33.2:3.21 38.10:3.13 Values are mean of triplicate analysis. Paul et al. (2004). 243

Paul et al. quality parameters were within the range for catfish culture as reported by Giri et al. (2003 and 2010). The initial body weight, net weight gain, SGR, FCR, PER and survival percent are presented in Table 2. The initial BW of O. pabda fry of each group of fish was alike (P>0.05).The net weight gain, however, was higher (P<0.05) in MP33 as compared to that of LP28 and HP38. The final weight, survival percent and SGR of the fry did not differ significantly (P>0.05) among the treatments. The FCR was significantly (P<0.05) higher in LP28 when compared to MP33 and HP38. The PER was significantly (P<0.01) higher in MP33 and followed by LP28 and MP38. Although the initial BW was similar among the treatments, the final BW attained by LP28 was the lowest, followed by HP38 and MP33. Lower growth performance of fish fed on the LP28 diet could be due to higher levels of carbohydrates in their diets, which supports to the observations of Jantrarotai et al. (1994) in hybrid catfish, Giri et al. (2000b) in Clarias batrachus, Giri et al. (2003) in hybrid catfish and Martinez-Palacios et al. (2007) in Mexican silverside, Menidia estor. High carbohydrate diet decreases enzyme activities and digestibility of carbohydrate and protein which culminated in retarded growth in fish (Ufodike and Matty, 1983). It could be further be deduced from the present study, that O. pabda were possibly capable of tolerating up to 31.5% carbohydrate without any adverse impact on their growth performance, and this value was higher than the values reported for channel catfish (28%; Garling and Wilson, 1977), but lower than the value reported for hybrid catfish (37.3%) of C. batrachus x C. gariepinus (Giri et al., 2003) and Nile tilapia (40%; Anderson et al., 1984). The nutrient requirement of O. pabda has not been reported in literature to compare the present results. The optimum protein level as studied in the present experiment appears to be 33% for maximum weight gain. The results are in agreement with Horabargus brachysoma fingerlings where crude protein level was 35% (Giri et al., 2011), but higher than C. batrachus where 30% CP was in the diet (Chuapoehuk, 1987). Table 2. Growth and feed utilization of O. pabda fry fed different levels of protein Particulates Dietary treatments LP28 MP33 HP38 SEM Initial weight (g) 1.07 1.04 1.06 0.03 Final weight (g) 2.66 3.02 2.73 0.08 Net weight gain (g) * 1.59 a 1.91 b 1.69 a 0.06 SGR 1.15 1.34 1.20 0.04 FCR * 3.19 b 2.17 a 3.45 a 0.27 Survival % 59.10 56.44 86.37 7.11 PER ** 1.13 b 1.4 c 0.77 a 0.12 ab Mean values with different superscripts in a row differ significantly *(P<0.05) and **(P<0.01). 244

Protein requirement of Ompok pabda Table 3. Carcass composition of O. pabda fry fed with different levels of protein (% w/w basis) Particulates Dietary treatments LP28 MP33 HP38 SEM Moisture 80.11 79.63 80.05 0.13 Protein 12.29 12.72 11.63 0.29 Lipid 3.6 3.87 3.52 0.07 Ash 2.35 2.44 2.32 0.03 Values are the mean of triplicate analysis. The carcass composition of O. pabda fry fed with different levels of protein are presented in Table 3. The level of dietary protein did no apparent (P>0.05) influence on the carcass moisture, protein, lipid and ash contents. The results are in agreement with similar observations in another bagrid catfish, M. nemurus (Ng et al., 2001) when fed diets containing 20-50% CP. The carcass composition of O. pabda fry as analysed in this study are in agreement with earlier report in C. batrachas (Giri et al., 2000a). However, the values are lower than those reported for other catfishes (Chari et al., 2000; Otubusin et al., 2009). Thus it is evident that the deposition of lipid and protein in the carcass of O. pabda fry is not influenced with the change of protein level in feed. It is concluded that for maximum growth and optimum feed utilization O. pabda fry needed 33.2% CP at an energy level of 3.21 kcal/g and a protein to energy ratio of 33.2:3.21. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors express their gratitude to the Director, CIFA, Kausalyaganga for providing necessary facilities to conduct the experiment. The O. pabda larvae supplied by Dr. N.M. Chakraborty, Principal Scientist of Kalyani Field Station of CIFA is duly acknowledged. REFERENCES Anderson, J., Jackson, A.J., Matty, A.J., Capper, B.S. 1984. The effects of dietary carbohydrate and fibre on the tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (Linn). Aquaculture, 37: 303-314. AOAC. 1984. Official Methods of Analysis, 14 th ed. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington,DC APHA. 1989. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Waste Water, 17 th ed. American Public Health Association, Washington, DC. Chakrabarti, P.P., Chakrabarty, N.M. and Mondal, S.C. 2009. Breeding and seed production of butter catfish, Ompok pabda (Siluridae) at Kalyani centre of CIFA, India. Aquaculture Asia, 14: 33-35. Chari, M.S., Jain, R.K., Tiwari, S.P. and Rajagopal, S. 2000. Body composition and mineral status of some common fish varieties from village ponds. Indian Journal of Animal Science, 70: 434-435. 245

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