Effects of Protein and Lipids on Growth Performance, Feed Efficiency and Survival Rate in Fingerlings of Bay Snook (Petenia splendida)

A 120-days trial with three dietary protein levels (30, 40 and 50%, respectively) and two dietary lipid concentrations (6 and 12%, respectively) was conducted to investigate the optimum dietary protein and lipid level for the growth, feed efficiency and survival rate of bay snook fingerlings, P. splendida (0.18±0.05 g initial body weight). A 2x3 factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replicates was used. Whole body amino acids and fatty acids analyses were carried out for each diet and calculated growth performance, fed efficiency and survival rate. The results showed a higher survival rate. Final Body Weight (FBW), Feed Efficiency (FE), Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER), Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) and condition factor (K) was significantly affected by dietary protein level (p<0.05) and FBW, SGR, PER and K were significantly affected by dietary lipids levels (p<0.05). The amino acid composition in diets and whole body was similar and Saturated Fatty Acids (SFA) showed a similar trend; the Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) indicated that 30/12 and 50/12 diets presented high values in whole body, whereas monoenes presented a dissimilar pattern. The best growth was observed with 50/12 diets where the lipid source was corn oil.