Two Novel Protein Sources of Marine Origin for the Nursery Rearing of Chanos chanos Fry

Abstract

Artificial feeds compounded from two new marine protein sources - clam meal (CM) and squid meal (SQM) were compared with the usually used protein sources like fish meal (FM) and prawn head waste meal (PHM) in Chanos chanos fry. The food conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and protein and lipid digestibility coefficients of fish fed on various feeds for 42 days indicate that the protein from clam meal and squid meal were better utilized for growth purposes than others. The PER value ranged from 0.23 (PHM) to 1.43 (CM) and protein digestibihty coefficient from 97.24 (CM) to 65.23% (PHM). Lipid digestibility values were also high for CM (98.08%) and SQM (97.12%). The survival rate, gain in length and weight, and specific growth rate indicate the superior performance of the feed compounded from CM, followed by SQM, FM and PHM.