Evaluation of mosquito fish Gambusia holbrooki (Girard) as a partial and complete pellet replacement for juvenile barramundi Lates calcarifer (Bloch): Mosquito fish as a diet for barramundi (original) (raw)
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Aquaculture Research, 2010
Barramundi (Lates calcarifer, Bloch) fed live mosquito ¢sh (Gambusia holbrooki, Girard) exhibited faster growth and a better food conversion ratio (on a dryweight basis) than those fed an iso-calori¢c ration of commercial barramundi pellets and a 50:50 ration of mosquito ¢sh and pellets. The improved performance of barramundi fed mosquito ¢sh was attributed to their higher protein content, higher protein to energy ratio and lower carbohydrate content. The essential amino acid indices and fatty acid pro¢les of the two diets were similar, suggesting that imbalances or de¢ciencies in these nutrients were not the limiting factor to the slower growth of barramundi fed on pellets. The use of mosquito ¢sh as barramundi food o¡ers a potential use of this noxious species and may allow barramundi to be cultured without the use of conventional ¢sh meal.
International Aquatic Research
The present experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of dietary protein from black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, larval meal (BSFL) to replace fish meal (FM) protein in juvenile barramundi, Lates calcarifer. Larvae of black soldier fly were fed with the underutilised crop, sesbania, Sesbania grandiflora. Five isonitrogenous (44% crude protein) and isocaloric (16.0 kJ available energy/g) experimental diets were formulated to replace FM using processed BSFL meal at 0 (control), 25% (BSFL25), 50% (BSFL50), 75% (BSFL75) and 100% (BSFL100). Data for proximate and amino acid analysis suggested BSFL meal as an inferior protein ingredient than FM, but parallel to soybean meal. At the end of 8 weeks of fish feeding trial, there were no significant differences in the average weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate among the group of fish-fed control, BSFL25 and BSFL50 diets (P \ 0.05). Although numerical differences were recorded in the fish whole-body proximate composition, crude protein and moisture content were not much affected by the different dietary treatments. Essential amino acids including arginine, histidine, lysine and methionine were found to be higher in the whole body of fish-fed BSFL100 diet. Broken line regression analysis of average WG showed an optimum FM replacement level of 28.4% with BSFL meal. Therefore, the present experiment clearly demonstrates that the maximal dietary inclusion level of BSFL meal as FM protein replacer for the optimum growth of juvenile barramundi reared in freshwater could be greater than 28.4% but less than 50%, without any adverse effects on the fish whole-body proximate and amino acid composition.
The inclusion of Culex stigmatosoma and Cx. quinquefasciatus pre-adults mosquito was analyzed as live food for fish with ornamental potential (angel fish Pterophyllum scalare and zebra fish Brachidanio rerio), native (Mexican mojarra Cichlasoma istlanum) and endemic (Balsas catfish Ictalurus balsanus). Mosquito's characteristics are: high nutritional quality, movement, soft body, availability, abundance and acceptance, which position the pre-adults mosquito as a potential live food for fish species. The aim was analyzing the preadults mosquito efficacy in the feeding fish. The information analyzed show significant increases, depending on the species, in fish fed with pre-adults mosquito; increment in weight of 32.10 to 49.32 mg/day, specific growth rate of 1.96 to 3.25% body weight/day, spawning frequency every 14.40 to 28.0 days, eggs number from 506.45 to 1477.2 per spawn, offspring production from 212.71 to 1322.2, survival of larvae from 42.21% to 85.0%, and adults from 85.99% to 100%. However, and despite the good results, the cultivation of mosquitoes is not recommended, but recollection and inclusion as a live food in the diet for freshwater is recommended.
Aquaculture Research
Live diets are preferably used for rearing Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens Regan, 1910) since they provide superior growth over the dry feed. In the current study, three different preparations of mosquito larvae were prepared (frozen at −20°C, F-20; freeze-dried and kept at 4°C, FD4; freeze-dried and kept at ambient temperature, FDAT) and were individually fed to 1-month-old red male fighting fish (1.18 ± 0.01 g initial body weight) over 6 weeks duration. At the end of experiment, there were no significant differences in growth performance and feed utilization across three dietary treatments (p ˃ 0.05). Specific activity of lipase was significantly lower in fish fed FD4 and FDAT than with the F-20 diet, while no differences in other enzymes were observed. The fish fed with FDAT diet significantly increased in viscerosomatic index relative to F-20 and FD4 treatments. Significant improvements in skin redness and flesh quality (RNA and RNA/protein ratio) were observed in the fish fed with FDAT diet relative to the other treatments. This preferred FDAT treatment also maintained the carcass composition. Analysis of digestive enzymes in FDAT mosquito larvae demonstrated the presence of protein-, carbohydrate-, and lipid-digesting enzymes after 1 month of storage. The findings from our experiments indicate that the freeze-dried form (FDAT) of mosquito larvae is suitable for rearing Siamese fighting fish. However, effective preparation protocol and appropriate storage times should be further studied.
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF MOSQUITO LARVAE USING EDIBLE FISH
Mosquito control has been a point of focus in scientific communities, especially health-providing units. Various methods have been tried and many more still being developed to eliminate or reduce mosquito populace. Certain environmental issues related with chemical control of mosquitoes have convinced experts to opt for eco-friendly methods. Among those methods are the biological control methods, which suppress vector populations through introduction/manipulation of organisms (natural enemies, e.g., parasites, disease organisms and predatory animals). Present study was focused on using edible fish as predator of mosquito larvae. Experimental results revealed that, edible fish have tremendous potential to be used as larvivorous predator of mosquito. It was further found that, larvivorous fish (Gambusia Affinis), used in this study preferred live larvae when compared with commercial food. The rate of consumption was between 180 to 190 larvae per fish per day, and fish preferred live larvae (65.72%) over dead larval stuff (37.14%). Another aim of the study was to determine the effect of light and dark periods on larvae consumption and it revealed that 88.75% of larvae were eaten in the presence of light and only 51.25% in dark by the mosquito fish. In micro-field condition, out of 500 larvae, only 13 (2.6 %) larvae were left, whereas rest of the larvae were consumed by the fish. The study suggests the larvivorous fish to be tried as biological control agent for mosquitoes.
Efficacy of Insect Feed as Protein Source in Aqua Feed and its Impact on Growth Performance of Fish
BioScientific Review
This study aimed to evaluate the impact of using insect-based fish feed on the growth of Ctenopharyngodon idella (grass carp). A meal in powder form was produced using the larvae of blowflies. The mixture contained either 20% or 40% larvae, combined with conventional ingredients. The fish fingerlings were divided into three groups and fed with this formulated feed for 10 weeks, while ensuring that the physio-chemical parameters were within the optimum range. Various growth parameters such as mortality rate, feed conversion ratio (FCR), specific growth rate (SGR), length, and weight were measured. The results showed that fish diet based on insects greatly accelerated growth, with the group fed with 40% maggot meal growing to the largest size and length. Similarly, the group fed with 20% maggot meal also demonstrated an increased growth rate. Whereas, FCR was the highest in the group fed with 40% maggot meal. Additionally, the groups fed with maggot meal had a lower mortality rate. Th...
We studied the diet of the eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki with in situ experimental mesocosms located in a shallow lake. Different nutrient concentrations (phosphorus and nitrogen) and fish population densities were tested. Our results confirm that it is a planktivorous species, with also a great ingestion of algae and detritus. Nutrient fertilization caused almost no changes in this species feeding behavior, but larger mosquitofish stocks induced a shift to zooplanktivory and a decline in detritivory. When macrophytes were present, the predation effect focused on zooplankton and plant-associated animals, otherwise predation on bottom macroinvertebrates increased. Females preyed upon almost all groups more intensely, including detritus. Males and juveniles did not overlap diet, the former being more selective on ostracods, while juveniles consumed detritus, rotifers and cladoceran. Our data support the idea that mosquitofish can cause important top-down effects in shallow lakes under a wide variety of ecological conditions, being an important zooplanktivore in both turbid and plant-dominated shallow lakes especially in the Mediterranean zone, where high temperatures and absence of piscivores promote maintenance of its populations during the whole year.
Food preference of Gold Fish (Carassius auratus) and its potential in mosquito control
2009
Ornamental fishes are the most popular pets in present day world. Among these ornamental fishes, gold fish (Carrasius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758)) is the most admired ornamental fish through out the world and also in India. Most of the fish farmers associated with ornamental fish trade in India are engaged in captive culture of gold fishes. Supply of suitable food during culture period is the most vital factor to achieve good growth and survival of gold fish, but proper knowledge regarding the most preferable food of gold fish is lacking. On the other hand, age-specific food preference in some fishes has been reported earlier. So, in the present study gold fish was selected to determine its food preference and experiment was also conducted to discern any age-specific food preference of gold fish. Previous works have considered gold fish as consumer of mosquito larvae but its potential as mosquito biocontrol agent has not been studied so far. So, the potential of gold fish as mosquito biocontrol agent was also studied. From the experiment, it has been observed that gold fish has significantly higher preference for live food than artificial food, more preferably for chironomid larvae. Gold fish has significantly higher mosquito larvae consumption rate than same aged guppy and Aplocheilus sp. under same hydrological parameter was also observed. So, from this study it can be concluded that supply of live food more preferably the chironomid larvae could be beneficial to get good growth and survival of gold fish in captive culture. As from this study it has also been observed that gold fish has significantly higher mosquito larvae consumption rate than popular larvivorous fishes, so in near future gold fish can not only be used as ornamental fish but also as an efficient mosquito biocontrol agent.
Comparative studies on the food intake, growth and food conversion of two larvivorous fishes
Proceedings: Animal Sciences, 1979
Food intake, growth and conversion efficiency of two larvivorous fishes have boon studied by supplying different proportions of first iltstar Culex fatigans larvae and Tubifex tubifex worms. The worms inhibit the preferential feeding on mosquito larvae by Gambusia affinis and Poecilia reticulata. Tl'.e reductiGn is more marked in G. affinis than in P. reticulata. Growth and conversion efficiency of P. reticulata surpassed the values observed for G. a3~nis indicating that the mosquito larvae are better utilised by P. reticulata than by G. affinis.
International Journal of Agriculture Innovations and Research, 2014
A forty nine-days feeding trial was conducted in aquaria at density of 1 larvalL to evaluate the growth performances, survival, nutrient utilization and carcass composition of the African catfish Heterobranchus longifilis larvae fed trice daily ad libitum to triplicate groups with local by-products fish meal (FME), blood sausage of pig (BSA), soybean (SBE), beef brain (BBR), maggot flour (MFL) and Artemia salina (ASA) as reference diet (Experience 1). Diet had a significant effect on growth performance and carcass composition (p<0.05). Final body weight, Final body length, Body weight gain, Specific growth rate and Coefficient of variation were highest in fish fed ASA and FME. Survival rate (SR) was highest in fish fed MFL. Coefficient of variation and cannibalism rate were highest in fish fed FME. Feed conversion ratio (3.38 ± 0.39; 5.30 ± 1.610) values were significantly (p<0.05) lowest in fish fed MFL and ASA respectively. Inversely, Protein efficiency ratio (1.47 ± 0.20) w...