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The bullseye snakehead (Channa marulius) is considered as an affordable and robust freshwater fish for farming in Asia. However, there is limited knowledge on the species' full nutritional requirements to date with extensive gaps in our knowledge and particularly in precision aspects of protein requirements. Therefore, a three-month feeding trial was conducted under semi-intensive farming conditions to determine the protein requirement of bullseye snakehead using test diets containing 40 (P40), 45 (P45), 50 (P50), and 55% (P55) crude protein levels. The growth performance results revealed that the 55% dietary protein group (P55) had the highest final mean weight (14.09 g fish-1), and net weight gain (12.82 g fish-1). When compared to other dietary treatments, the final weight (R2 = 0.921), and weight gain (R2 = 0.913), displayed a linear increasing trend as dietary protein is raised. The lowest FCR was observed in 50% (1.94±0.01) and 55% (1.97±0.01) CP diet groups compared to dietary treatments. Further analysis has shown that the body protein content also significantly increased as dietary protein was raised to 55%. Although, a reverse trend was found in body lipid levels with increasing protein in the diet. The incremental dietary protein also elevated proximal intestinal protease activity but decreased amylase and lipase activity. The overall essential and non-essential amino acids levels of snakehead fillet muscle reflected an increase in dietary protein. Overall, this study has shown that the fish fed a diet with 55% crude protein attained the highest growth performance and nutrient profile of the whole fish when compared to other dietary treatments tested. It would appear we did not obtain the maximum potential for growth under the present experimental conditions due to the upper protein constraint of 55% in the diet. Further quantitative studies are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to assess the impact dietary incorporation of vitamin C on the proximate composition, amino acids, and fatty acids profile in bullseye snakehead Channa marulius (100 g initial body weight) reared in hapa’s (cages) for three months. There were four treatments (T0, T1, T2, T3). Each treatment had three replicates. Fish were fed a 40% crude protein diet supplemented with various levels 0, 75, 150, and 300 mg kg-1 diet, respectively for the four treatments. After the feeding trial, the findings showed that by adding vitamin C to the diet improved snakehead Channa marulius growth performance significantly (p<0.05) in comparison to the control group. While the proximate composition of the fish was significantly impacted by the dietary treatments. The highest protein content 19.61% and lowest moisture content 72.65 % were found in T1 (75 mg kg-1). Dietary vitamin C at 75 and 150mg kg-1 levels in the diet had also a significant (p<0.05) effect on the methionine, threonine, leucine, histidine, lysine, and glutamic acid of fish muscle. Channa marulius fatty acid profile showed no significant (p>0.05) difference. Conclusively, inclusion of vitamin C at 75 and 150 mg kg-1 in the diet for snakehead significantly improved fish nutrients profile of C. marulius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]