Comparison of the growth performance and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) biosynthetic ability of red tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus♀ × O. niloticus♂) fed fish oil or vegetable oil diet at different salinities

The present study aim to compare the growth and biosynthetic ability of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) of red tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus♀ × O. niloticus♂) at different salinities. An 8-week feeding trial was conducted on the juvenile red tilapia (initial weight about 10.5 g) reared at 0, 15 and 30 parts per thousand (ppt) salinity fed with two isonitrogenous (32%) and isolipidic (9%) diets. The diet with vegetable oil was named VO, specifically rapeseed oil, without LC-PUFA but rich in C18 PUFA precursors, the other diet with fish oil was named FO rich in LC-PUFA. At the end of feeding trial, irrespective of diet, fish reared at 30 ppt showed significantly higher weight gain and specific growth rate and lower feed conversion ratio than those reared at 15 ppt or 0 ppt (p