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Threadfins (Perciformes: Polynemidae) are commercially important, highly prized table fishes in India. In this study, we analysed the mitochondrial COI gene for validating species identification and phylogeny of threadfins occurring in Indian waters. Consequently, we developed barcodes for ten polynemids belonging to the genera Polydactylus, Eleutheronema, Leptomelanosoma, Filimanus and Polynemus. The K2P distance within the polynemid species in Indian waters ranged from zero to 0.8%. Nucleotide composition was estimated as adenine (A) = 22.5%, thymine (T) = 28.7%, cytosine (C) = 29.7% and guanine (G) = 19.1%. The average transitional pairs (75.8) were more frequent than the average transversional pairs (24.2) with an estimated Transition/Transversion bias (R) of 3.33. Cryptic species were observed in Polydactylus and Eleutheronema indicating the need for detailed studies on the taxonomy of polynemids globally. The present study determines the utility of DNA barcodes in species identification in polynemids.

This study analyzed the ethyl acetate-methanol extracts of tropical green seaweeds for phytochemical indicators and antioxidant activities. Compositional analysis of the organic extracts of green seaweeds Ulva lactuca (formerly Ulva fasciata), Halimeda macroloba, Chaetomorpha linum and Chaetomorpha antennina identified the presence of phytoconstituents, such as total phenols, terpenoids, saponins and flavanoids. U. lactuca exhibited higher levels of total phenols (59.8 mg GAE/g), saponins (1.77 %), flavanoids (2.3 %), as well as greater 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazylradical radical quenching activity (DPPH.IC50 0.86 mg/mL). Extracts of U. lactuca and H. macrobola showed promising antimicrobial activities against Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance fingerprint analyses of the solvent extracts showed that higher proton integrals were present in the downfield regions in U. lactuca, which could be responsible for lowering DPPH activity. The present work supports that the renewable green seaweed U. lactuca could be used to isolate prospective bioactive leads.

A new species of Ceratomyxa infecting the gallbladder of the marine ornamental fish Acanthurus xanthopterus collected from the Vizhinjam coast of Kerala is described. The parasite exhibited a prevalence of 100%. Mature spores recovered from the gallbladder were slightly crescentic with rounded lateral extremities and possessed convex anterior and slightly concave to straight posterior margins. Spore valves two, equal, joined by a straight and prominent suture. Myxospores measured 5.5 ± 0.6 μm in length and 15.9 ± 2.3 μm in thickness. Polar capsules two, equal, spherical, positioned anteriorly on either sides of the suture, 2.3 ± 0.2 μm long and 2.2 ± 0.2 μm wide. Polar filament with four to five coils, 21.2 ± 0.6 μm when extruded. Posterior angle 173.6 ± 5.2°. Early sporogonic stages and monosporic, disporic, and multisporic plasmodial stages were spherical to irregular in shape, with or without filopodia. Histopathologic analysis revealed that spores and developing stages were attached to the gallbladder wall as well as found free in the lumen. Morphologic and morphometric comparison of the present parasite with known species of Ceratomyxa indicated significant differences. In molecular and phylogenetic analyses, the present myxosporean revealed high divergence with related forms and occupied an independent position within the Ceratomyxa clade with high nodal support. Considering the morphological, morphometric, molecular, and phylogenetic dissimilarities with the previously described species of Ceratomyxa and the differences in host and geographic locations, the present species of myxosporean is treated as new and is named Ceratomyxa xanthopteri n. sp.

The present paper describes a novel species of Myxobolus parasitizing the gill filaments of the largescale mullet, Planiliza macrolepis from Cochin backwaters, Kerala, India. The parasite develops in the gill filaments; plasmodia elongated, milky white, measured 1.37 – 2.18 (1.78 ± 0.35) mm x 0.07-0.12 (0.10 ± 0.02) mm in size. Mature myxospores ovoid in valvular view, biconvex in sutural view with smooth shell valves and measured 6.24 - 7.02 (6.63 ± 0.23) × 5.01 - 6.18 (5.68 ± 0.25) μm in size. Polar capsules equal, oval with pointed anterior ends, 3.07 – 3.58 (3.33 ± 0.12) × 1.68 – 2.42 (2.09 ± 0.18) μm in size. Polar filaments with 4 coils, measured 29.61 ± 4.75 μm in length when extruded. Sporoplasm binucleate with a rudimentary nucleus and a vacuole. A comparison with related Myxobolus species revealed significant morphological & morphometric differences. In BLASTN and genetic distance analysis, the present parasite showed high divergence with other myxosporean sequences, indicating its molecular uniqueness. In Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Interference analysis, the present species stands out with M. ramadus as sister branch within the Myxobolus clade. In infected gill filaments, the plasmodia caused swelling/deformation, compression of lamellae and reduction in respiratory surface area. Three of 222 P. macrolepis screened were infected, indicating a prevalence of 1.3%. Considering the morphological, morphometric, molecular and phylogenetic differences with the previously described species of myxosporeans, along with the dissimilarities in host and geographical locations, the present parasite is treated as a new species and the name Myxobolus cochinensis n. sp. is proposed.

A 45-day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary jamun tree leaf (JL) on the antioxidant defence system-based disease resistance in juveniles of Trachinotus blochii. The juveniles of snubnose pompano were distributed into four treatment groups in triplicates. Each treatment was fed with a diet containing either 0 (0JL), 0.5 (0.5JL), 1 (1JL) and 1.5% JL (1.5JL) in the feed. After feeding trial, the fishes were experimentally infected with Vibrio parahaemolyticus. The activities of oxidative stress enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and catalase were found to be increasing with increasing level of dietary JL incorporation, and the lower value was witnessed in control group in pre- and post-challenge. After challenge, the alanine and aspartate aminotransferase activities in all the treatments were significantly increased (P < 0.05) than the pre-challenge condition and exhibited reverse trend with the antioxidant enzymes. The alkaline and acid phosphatase activities were found higher in 1.5JL group and showed significant difference (P < 0.05) among the treatments. The respiratory burst activity and liver glycogen content showed an increasing trend as the level of inclusion of JL increased in the diet. The acetylcholinesterase activity was significantly plunged (P < 0.05) after experimental infection, and JL diet fed groups showed better activity. After experimental infection with V. parahaemolyticus, the highest relative percentage of survival was observed in 1JL and 1.5JL groups. Hence, dietary supplementation of jamun tree leaf at the level of 1% is adequate to reduce the oxidative stress and improved the innate immune status through antioxidant defence system.

A study was conducted to investigate the histological changes in the gills of orange-spotted grouper infested with flukes of Dactylogyrus spp. Several histological changes were observed in the gill which included complete fusion of secondary lamellae, dilatation of the venous sinus at the middle of the primary lamellae, oedema and complete loss of secondary lamellae, etc

The Indian black clam Villorita cyprinoides (Family: Cyrenidae), an extractive commercially exploited species with aquaculture importance contributing more than 70% of clam fishery in India, is endemic to the Indian peninsula. Currently, there is very sparse information, especially on the molecular data of Villorita. The present study aims to provide a comprehensive knowledge of mitogenome architecture and assess the phylogenetic status of Cyrenidae. This has resulted in reporting the first complete mitogenome of V. cyprinoides using next-generation sequencing technology. The A+T circular mitogenome was 15,880 bp long, exhibiting 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) including ATP8 (absent in several bivalves), 22 transfer RNA, and two ribosomal RNA genes residing in the heavy strand in a clockwise orientation and a gene order akin to Corbicula fluminea. The molecular phylogeny inferred from a concatenated multi-gene sequence [14 mitochondrial (12 PCGs, rrnS and rrnL) and two nuclear genes (Histone H3, 18S rRNA)] from 47 representative species of superorder Imparidentia, clustered V. cyprinoides and Cyrenid clams to a single clade supporting the monophyly of Cyrenidae. The subsequent mitochondrial gene order analysis substantiates the close relationship of V. cyprinoides and C. fluminea, analogous to phylogenetic output. The multilocus tree topology calibrated with verified fossil data deciphered the origin and diversification of Cyrenid clams during late Triassic-early Jurassic. The data derived from this study shall contribute remarkably for further insights on cryptic species identification, molecular characterization of bivalve mitogenomes and mitochondrial evolutionary history of genus Villorita. Moreover, complete mitogenome can aid in potential marker development for assessing the genetic health of black clam populations.

Conventional turbidimetric assay for sulphate determination was modified to 100 times lesser reaction volume on a convenient format using microtitre plate based platform, targeting routine microbiological applications to screen sulphur oxidizing bacteria (SOB) cultures. The modified assay was linear up to 1500 mg/L of sulphate concentration, which is about 37.5 times more than that of conventional assay. Upon regression analysis, linear equation y = 1.243× + 0.011 was obtained having R2 value of 0.998. The modified assay was fully validated in terms of precision, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), sensitivity, selectivity and robustness to assure the reliability during final applications. LOD and LOQ were found as 7.4 mg/L and 24.8 mg/L of sulphate concentration respectively. Further, accuracy of the assay over routine SOB screening media components was tested, and proved as reliable and suitable for the intended application.

Gross protein and fat requirements in formulated feeds designed for the honey gourami, Trichogaster chuna (initial weight 1.34–1.38 g), were investigated. Feeds containing 30%, 40%, and 50% protein and 6% and 9% lipid at each protein level were tested. Protein and energy sources used were from fishmeal, shrimp meal, clam meal, soy flour, and wheat flour. An equal mixture of crude sardine oil and groundnut oil was used as the source of lipids. Comparison of the whole gourami amino acid profiles before and after the dietary treatments indicated a relative decline in all amino acids except methionine and lysine. Fatty acid profiles of whole individuals after dietary treatment showed a substantial increase in monounsaturated fatty acids relative to the initial fatty acid profiles. No significant differences were observed in fish growth between dietary treatments (p > .05). Feeds containing 30% protein and 6% lipid were found to be adequate for normal growth, while feeds with 40% protein and 6% lipid were seen to help accelerate growth and reproduction. In this study, protein and lipid levels required for regular maintenance, sexual maturation, and spawning of aquarium‐reared gourami were established.

The study was aimed to assess the growth and immunomodulatory potential of Syzygium cumini leaf powder against virulent strain of Vibrio parahaemolyticus on the juveniles of Litopenaeus vannamei. Two diets such as control diet (without immunostimulant) and immunostimulant diet (containing 1% S. cumini leaf powder) were prepared. The juveniles were distributed in four treatments namely; daily feeding of control diet (CD), daily feeding of immunostimulant diet (ID), alternate day feeding of control and immunostimulant diet (CD/ID) and two days control diet and one day immunostimulant diet (2CD/ID) feeding. After feeding trial, shrimps from each treatment group were challenged with 0.1 mL of virulent strain of V. parahaemolyticus suspension at a concentration of 107 CFU mL−1. The post-challenge sampling was performed after 5 days of injection. The haemolymph prophenol oxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase and respiratory burst activity of different treatments were significantly different (P

Mangrove red snapper, Lutjanus argentimaculatus is a commercially important fish. The genetic stock structure of L. argentimaculatus from Indian waters was identified using mitochondrial ATPase 6 and ATPase 8, and cytochrome b (Cytb) genes. A 842 bp region of ATPase 6/8 genes and 1105 bp region of Cytb gene were amplified in 120 samples from six different locations along the Indian coast and obtained 58 and 66 haplotypes, respectively. The high haplotype and low nucleotide diversity values along with mismatch distribution, Tajima’s D and Fu’s $$F_\mathrm{s}$$ analysis suggested a genetic bottleneck events or founder effect, with subsequent population expansion in L. argentimaculatus. Coefficient of genetic differentiation $$(F_\mathrm{ST})$$ values was low and nonsignificant for both ATPase 6/8 gene and Cytb genes indicating low genetic differentiation in L. argentimaculatus which can be managed as a unit stock in Indian waters.

The fourfinger threadfin Eleutheronema tetradactylum is reported as a protandrous hermaphrodite from Australian waters, while being a gonochorist in reports from Singapore and India, with a single report of protandrous hermaphroditism from the latter. Histological analysis of gonads of fish from Indian waters confirms protandrous hermaphroditism in E. tetradactylum. The study was based on 480 fish examined from eight locations along the Indian coast. Mean total length (LT ) of male fish was 240 mm with the transition to female starting from 280 mm LT . Specimens confirmed as mature females were >380 mm LT .

Marine lobsters are a diverse group of large crustaceans distributed almost throughout the world oceans that support commercial fisheries in many countries with significant economic benefits. While rapid progress and phenomenal success were achieved in shrimp aquaculture throughout the world, progress in commercial-scale aquaculture of lobsters was relatively slow due to various biological and technical problems, especially the hatchery production of seeds. Although a marginal increase in total global landings was evident in recent years, production from world capture fisheries has generally been almost stagnant for many years. Lobster aquaculture research began almost 115 years ago, and post-larval production of several species of spiny and slipper lobsters, both temperate and tropical, has been achieved, though in limited quantities. Several diets for each developing stage of the larva were evaluated, and the physiological and nutritional requirements determined in order to successfully rear the phyllosoma larvae through the prolonged larval phase. Different models of rearing tanks including the shape, volume and flow rate of water in the larviculture systems were tested, as maintenance of the fragile phyllosoma larvae in a pathogen-free environment is the one of the most difficult aspects of larval rearing. Significant advances have been made in captive breeding and mass-scale seed production of the tropical fast-growing spiny lobster, Panulirus ornatus, and the slipper lobster, Thenus spp. Two generations of P. ornatus have been produced in captivity by the Australian scientists, which may pave way for commercialisation of hatchery production and genetic improvement of the species in future. The breakthrough has been achieved due to focused research on two key areas, the nutrition and health management of the larval culture systems.

Fish protein hydrolysate (FPH) has gained importance in recent times due to its growth and health promoting properties. Forty days feeding trial was carried out to study the effect of FPH prepared from tilapia fish processing waste (TFW) on growth, metabolism, immunity and resistance against bacterial infection induced by Vibrio anguillarum in silver pompano (Trachinotus blochii) fingerlings. During the study, fishes were fed practical diets containing 0, 30, 60 and 90 g/kg tilapia protein hydrolysate (TPH) at 70 g/kg body weight per day initially which was gradually reduced to 30 g/kg. Animals fed with 90 g/kg tilapia protein hydrolysate in diet showed significantly (P

The Indian oil sardine, Sardinella longiceps, is an important pelagic species in Indian waters, and shows divergent morphology while in sympatry. The reasons behind this divergent morphology were investigated using morphometric, genetic and nutritional analyses. Twenty-one morphometric characters (as percentage of standard length) and eight meristic characters were studied in the three variants to assess whether they are significantly diverged. Distinct clustering of morphotypes was evident in the principal component analysis on log-transformed ratios of morphological characters with PC1 and PC2, explaining 50.7% and 17.6% of the total morphological variation, respectively. PC1 was highly correlated with the distance from snout to anal origin, depth at dorsal, distance from snout to pelvic and distance from snout to first dorsal. PC2 was highly correlated with head length, caudal width and anal depth. Analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) was conducted using log-transformed morphometric ratios, with the results showing the clusters to be well differentiated (R = 0.511; P < 0.01). Similarity of percentage analysis (SIMPER) analysis showed that the differences in depth at the dorsal, anal base length, caudal width, distance from pelvic to anal origin, anal depth and eye diameter accounted for 52% of variations between variant 1 and 2. Differences in caudal width, distance from pelvic to anal origin, anal base length, depth at dorsal and anal depth accounted for 56% of the variation between variant 2 and 3. Differences in caudal width, eye diameter, anal base length, anal depth, distance from pelvic to anal origin accounted for 50% of the variation between variant 1 and 3. Genetic divergence was not significantly based on mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) or control region sequences. Proximate composition analyses showed significantly high fat content in variants 1&3 and significantly high protein content in variant 2, probably due to dissimilar dietary preferences. The study shows that morphotypes of the Indian oil sardine may be the result of divergent selection and adaptive variations, which need further investigation using a long-term sampling design.

An experiment was conducted to delineate the effect of varying level of dietary protein with balanced level of limiting amino acids such as lysine and methionine on growth, feed utilization, body indices and digestive enzymology of snubnose pompano, Trachinotus blochii reared in low saline water. There were four experimental diets formulated with 350 (CP350), 400 (CP400), 450 (CP450) and 500 g/kg (CP500) crude protein and each with 100 g/kg crude fat and were assigned to four treatments, CP350, CP400, CP450 and CP500 respectively. Totally eighty four fingerlings with the body weight in the range of 16−18 g were randomly distributed in four treatment groups with each of three replicates. Fish were fed to apparent satiation twice daily with the assigned experimental diet. At the end of 13 weeks of feeding trial, weight gain percentage (WG%) and specific growth rate (SGR) of fish fed with CP400 and CP450 diets were significantly higher than those of fish fed with CP350 and CP500 diets. Growth rate on metabolic body weight (GRMBW), daily growth coefficient (DGC) and average daily growth (ADG) were higher in CP400 group and lower in CP350 group. The viscerosomatic index (VSI), hepatosomatic index (HSI), gastrosomatic index (GSI) and intra-peritoneal fat ratio (IPFR) showed an increasing trend as the crude protein content of the experimental diet increases and the maximum value was witnessed in CP500 treatment. Crude lipid and protein content of whole body tissue was found highest in CP400 and lowest level was noticed in CP350 group. The maximum intestinal protease activity was noticed in CP400 group. In conclusion, analysis of second degree polynomial regression revealed that the optimum dietary protein level could be in the range of 395.3–426.7 g/kg for maximum growth of juvenile snubnose pompano.

In this study, we optimized the dietary methionine requirement of juvenile silver pompano (average initial weight of 5.47 g). Six isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets (420 g/kg crude protein [CP] and 60 g/kg lipid) were formulated with different concentrations of methionine (5.1, 6.9, 9.0, 10.7, 13.1, and 15.2 g/kg dry diet) and a constant level of cysteine (5.3 g/kg). Fishes were randomly stocked in a recirculatory system for a feeding trial of 90 days. After the feeding trial, significant differences (P 0.05) were observed among hepatosomatic index, viscerosomatic index, muscle ratio, condition factor, serum glucose, triglycerides, and erythrocyte count. The optimization of the fitted quadratic regression for WG, SGR, TGC, FCR, and PER based on the dietary methionine level showed that the optimum methionine requirement of silver pompano in nursery phase ranged from 11.6–11.8 g/kg dry diet (27.6–28.1 g/kg dietary CP), corresponding to a dietary cysteine level of 5.3 g/kg.

A 12-week feeding trial was conducted to quantify the dietary lysine requirement of juvenile silver pompano with an initial average weight of 6.28 g reared in indoor recirculatory system. Six treatment diets were designed with isonitrogenous, isolipidic and isoenergetic diets. (42% CP, 6% CL and 4.28 kcal g−1 GE) were formulated with graded levels of lysine (1.52, 1.85, 2.21, 2.49, 2.74 and 2.98 g/100 g, dry diet). Equal amino acid nitrogen was maintained by replacing lysine with nonessential amino acid mixture. Fish were randomly stocked, in triplicate groups, in 180 L indoor glass rectangular tanks with recirculatory system and fed to apparent satiation over two feedings at 10:00 and 16:00 h daily during the experimental period. The results indicated that there were significant differences in growth and feed utilization among the treatments. Fish fed diets with lysine in different treatments showed high survival rate (95–100%). Maximum weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) occurred at 2.21% dietary lysine. The hepatosomatic index (HSI), viscerosomatic index (VSI) and crude protein content in whole body were significantly affected by dietary lysine levels. There were significant differences (P Statement of relevance First report of lysine requirement of juvenile silver pompano.

Whole genome sequencing was performed on three samples of four finger threadfin Eleutheronema tetradactylum (KET25, KET29 and KET30) using illumina NextSeq500 platform using 2 × 150 bp chemistry. 8,390,317, 7,085,775 and 8,461,589 high quality reads were obtained after trimming low quality reads and adapter sequence. These high quality reads obtained were used for de novo assembly and obtained a number of scaffolds. From these scaffolds of vast sequenced data, we were able to identify 60246, 46107 and 60907 Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR) markers in KET25, KET29 and KET30 respectively, which will be useful in population genetic analysis and other diversity studies in Indian salmon. The gene prediction on assembled scaffolds predicted 31,943 genes for KET25; 26,487 genes for KET29 and 31,654 genes for KET30 with average gene size of 458bp, 424bp and 459bp respectively. A total of 30,209, 25,107 and 29,943 genes were annotated against the NCBI Nr database for the samples respectively. E. tetradactylum is a commercially important fish species for many countries. This is the first report on the identification of genomic SSR markers in E. tetradactylum using NGS technology. This study provides an insight of baseline knowledge of the genome sequence of Indian salmon for future studies.

A disease outbreak was reported in adult koi, Cyprinus carpio koi, from a fish farm in Kerala, India, during June 2015. The clinical signs were observed only in recently introduced adult koi, and an existing population of fish did not show any clinical signs or mortality. Microscopic examination of wet mounts from the gills of affected koi revealed minor infestation of Dactylogyrus sp. in a few koi. In bacteriological studies, only opportunistic bacteria were isolated from the gills of affected fish. The histopathological examination of the affected fish revealed necrotic changes in gills and, importantly, virus particles were demonstrated in cytoplasm of gill epithelial cells in transmission electron microscopy. The tissue samples from affected koi were negative for common viruses reported from koi viz. cyprinid herpesvirus 3, spring viraemia of carp virus, koi ranavirus and red sea bream iridovirus in PCR screening. However, gill tissue from affected koi carp was positive for carp edema virus (CEV) in the first step of nested PCR, and sequencing of PCR amplicons confirmed infection with CEV. No cytopathic effect was observed in six fish cell lines following inoculation of filtered tissue homogenate prepared from gills of affected fish. In bioassay, the symptoms could be reproduced by inoculation of naive koi with filtrate from gill tissue homogenate of CEV-positive fish. Subsequently, screening of koi showing clinical signs similar to koi sleepy disease from different locations revealed that CEV infection was widespread. To our knowledge, this is the first report of infection with CEV in koi from India.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is the principal constituent of a variety of cells especially the brain neurons and retinal cells and plays important role in fetal brain development, development of motor skills, and visual acuity in infants, lipid metabolism, and cognitive support and along with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) it plays important role in preventing atherosclerosis, dementia, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, and so forth. Being an essential nutrient, it is to be obtained through diet and therefore searching for affordable sources of theseω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) is important for consumer guidance and dietary counseling. Fish is an important source of PUFA and has unique advantage that there are many food fish species available and consumers have a wide choice owing to availability and affordability. The Indian subcontinent harbors a rich fish biodiversity which markedly varies in their nutrient composition. Here we report the DHA and EPA content and fatty acid profile of 39 important food fishes (including finfishes, shellfishes, and edible molluscs from both marine water and freshwater) from India. The study showed that fishesTenualosa ilisha,Sardinella longiceps,Nemipterus japonicus, andAnabas testudineusare rich sources of DHA and EPA. Promotion of these species as DHA rich species would enhance their utility in public health nutrition.

Nutritional profiles of 25 feed ingredients available in India were selected and compiled. Their costs were ascertained from Cochin (SW), Tuticorin (SE), and Bhubaneswar (NW), where fish/shrimp farming is traditionally practiced. Least-cost feed formulations (using the linprog toolbox in Matlab software) were attempted for catfish, milkfish, tilapia, and grouper fry specifying levels of four critical limits: Ca/P ratio, digestible energy (DE), 10 amino acid levels (where data was available), and 10 ingredients, totaling 26 constraining limits to the model. Feeds formulated for catfish fry cost US$0.066 kg−1 at Bhubaneswar, US$0.117 kg−1 at Tuticorin, and US$0.153 kg−1 at Cochin, with poultry by-product meal and hydrolyzed feather meal as the major ingredients; limiting amino acids in these feeds were methionine and phenylalanine. Feeds formulated for milkfish fry cost US$0.110 kg−1 at Cochin, US$0.108 kg−1 at Tuticorin, and US$0.072 kg−1 at Bhubaneswar; the limiting amino acids in this case were histidine...

The micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) are required in small amounts but are essential for health, development, and growth. Micronutrient deficiencies, which affect over two billion people around the globe, are the leading cause of many ailments including mental retardation, preventable blindness, and death during childbirth. Fish is an important dietary source of micronutrients and plays important role in human nutrition. In the present investigation, micronutrient composition of 35 food fishes (includes both finfishes and shellfishes) was investigated from varying aquatic habitats. Macrominerals (Na, K, Ca, Mg) and trace elements (Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Se) were determined by either atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) or inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)/atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Phosphorus content was determined either spectrophotometrically or by ICP-AES. Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The analysis showed that, in general, the marine fishes were rich in sodium and potassium; small indigenous fishes (SIFs) in calcium, iron, and manganese; coldwater fishes in selenium; and the brackishwater fishes in phosphorous. The marine fishes Sardinella longiceps and Epinephelus spp. and the SIFs were rich in all fat-soluble vitamins. All these recommendations were made according to the potential contribution (daily value %) of the species to the recommended daily allowance (RDA). Information on the micronutrients generated would enhance the utility of fish in both community and clinical nutrition.

Formulated feeds containing a common ingredient mixture (CIM) consisting of ¢shmeal (anchovies), shrimp meal (Acetes), squid meal (Loligo) and soybean meal incorporated in ascending levels to obtain protein levels ranging from 180 to 560 g kg1(18.34%, 25.35%, 36.27%, 46.61% and 56.28%) and an energy level of 19MJ kg1 were fed to the marine ornamental ¢sh, striped damsel, Dascyllus aruanus o200mg and 200^300 mg in size for periods of 35 and 63 days. Theo200mg ¢sh accepted particleso0.5mm in size and showed maximumgrowth in terms of absolute growth rate (AGR), relative growth rate (RGR) and speci¢c growth rate (SGR) with the feed containing 380 g kg1 CIM having a protein content of 362 g kg1.