Mussel meal as a promotor of growth performance for the Whiteleg Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

• Autor(a) principal: Claessens, Stef
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Aragão, Cláudia, Hoffling, Flávia Banderó, Pinheiro, Isabela, Fracalossi, Débora Machado, Vieira, Felipe Nascimento
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/20049
• topic: Feed additive; Feed efficiency; Pacific white shrimp; Perna perna; Shrimp culture; Shrimp nutrition; Thermal shock

Mussel meal (species Perna perna) was evaluated as a potential feed additive for whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) diets to improve growth and cold resistance. Five experimental diets (0, 1, 2, 3 and 4% of mussel meal inclusion) were tested in quadruplicate in whiteleg shrimp, using twenty polyethylene tanks of 400 L. Each tank was stocked with 40 shrimp (3.5 ± 0.5 g), filled with seawater and kept under constant aeration and a temperature of 28.4 ± 0.4 ◦C. After 8 weeks, the growth and feed efficiency of the shrimp were evaluated, and a thermal shock was administered. The shrimp that were fed with the addition of 3 or 4% mussel meal in their diets showed similar results as the control (0% inclusion), while the addition of 1 or 2% mussel meal in the diet resulted in a significantly higher final weight, weight gain and relative growth rate and a lower feed conversion ratio. Further, no differences were observed in thermal shock resistance and survival among the treatments. In conclusion, mussel meal can be used as a feed additive in whiteleg shrimp diets to improve growth, and quadratic regression models indicate that the best levels of inclusion range from 1.73 to 2.00%.