Effects of seaweed replacement by hydrolyzed soybean meal on growth, metabolism, oxidation resistance and body composition of sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

A feeding trial was conducted to assess effects of seaweed replacement by hydrolyzed soybean meal (HSBM) on growth performance, diet utilization, metabolism and body composition of sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus . Six iso-energetic (11.39 ± 0.08 kJ/g) and isoprotein (13.62 ± 0.05 g/kg) diets were formulated by replacing 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% seaweed protein with graded HSBM levels of 0%, 4.09%, 8.18%, 12.27%, 16.36% and 20.45%. The seventh diet (S12.27%) used 12.27% soybean meal (SBM) instead of 12.27% HSBM. Triplicate tanks (40 sea cucumber per tank) were fed one of seven diets for 45 days. The results showed that growth performance of sea cucumber increased with the increase of HSBM levels from 4.09% to 12.27% while decreased as the HSBM level increased to 20.45% ( P P P P P P P P P P P P Statement of relevance Our paper provided an idea of optimizing the feed formula of sea cucumber by adding hydrolyzed soybean meal in sea cucumber culture. This optimized formula could improve diet utilization and promote growth of sea cucumber. More importantly, replacement of seaweed powder with hydrolyzed soybean meal could reduce the use of seaweed powder due to unstable supply and increased price.