D. Udayasoundari¹ , S. Jeyanthi² , P. Santhanam² , A. Shenbaga Devi² , V. Shyamala³ , N. Thangaraju³

1 Department of Marine Biotechnology, School of Marine Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli - 620 024, Tamil Nadu, India
2 Department of Marine Science, School of Marine Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli - 620 024, Tamil Nadu, India
3 CAS in Botany, University of Madras, Chennai - 600 025, Tamil Nadu, India
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Marine Science, 2016, Vol. 6, No. 25   doi: 10.5376/ijms.2016.06.0025
Received: 27 Apr., 2016    Accepted: 01 Aug., 2016    Published: 03 Aug., 2016

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Udayasoundari D., Jeyanthi S., Santhanam P., Devi A.S., Shyamala V. and Thangaraju N., 2016, Effects of Partial Replacement of Fishmeal with Seaweed (Lobophora variegata) Meal on the Growth and Biochemical Composition of Commercial Important Fish Asian Seabass Lates calcarifer (Bloch, 1790) Fingerlings, International Journal of Marine Science, 6 (25): 1-8 (doi: 10.5376/ijms.2016.06.0025)

Seaweeds are large algae (macro algae) that grow in a brackishwater or marine environment. They are a valuable food source and contain significant quantities of proteins, lipids, vitamins and minerals. Algae meals are alternative plant feedstuffs that are increasingly being used in aqua feeds because of their nutritional quality, lower cost and availability. This study is an attempt made on the effects of replacing fish meal with the brown seaweed (Lobophora variegata) on the growth and biochemical composition (protein, lipids, carbohydrates) of Asian seabass Lates calcarifer fingerlings. Investigations on the biochemical constituents and nutritive profile of the formulated feeds showed that seaweeds could be the better replacement for fish meal in pelleted feeds. The seaweeds used in our study did not seem to affect the palatability of the diet for this carnivorous fish. Therefore, reducing fishmeal inclusion levels and replacing fishmeal with cost-effective, widely available and sustainable feedstuffs are considered essential for the future development of the aquaculture industry.

Aquaculture; Seaweed; Fish Meal; Sea Bass; Lates calcarifer; Lobophora variegata