Re-evaluation of the optimum dietary protein level for maximum growth of juvenile barred knifejaw Oplegnathus fasciatus reared in cages

Abstract We determined the optimum dietary protein level in juvenile barred knifejaw Oplegnathus fasciatus in cages. Five semi-purified isocaloric diets were formulated with white fish meal and casein-based diets to contain 35, 40, 45, 50, and 60 % crude protein (CP). Fish with an initial body weight of 7.1 ± 0.06 g (mean ± SD) were randomly distributed into 15 net cages (each size: 60 cm × 40 cm × 90 cm, W × L × H) as groups of 20 fish in triplicates. The fish were fed at apparent satiation level twice a day. After 8 weeks of feeding, the weight gain (WG) of fish fed 45, 50, and 60 % CP diets were significantly higher than those of fish fed 35 and 40 % CP diets. However, there were no significant differences in WG among fish fed 45, 50, and 60 % CP diets. Generally, feed efficiency (FE) and specific growth rate (SGR) showed a similar trend as WG. However, the protein efficiency ratio (PER) was inversely related to dietary protein levels. Energy retention efficiency increased with the increase of dietary protein levels by protein sparing from non-protein energy sources. Blood hematocrit content was not affected by dietary protein levels. However, a significantly lower amount of hemoglobin was found in fish fed 35 % CP than in fish fed 40, 45, 50, and 60 % CP diets. Fish fed 60 % CP showed the lowest survival rate than the fish fed 35, 40, 45, and 50 % CP diets. Broken-line analysis of WG showed the optimum dietary protein level was 45.2 % with 18.8 kJ/g diet for juvenile barred knifejaw. This study has potential implication for the successful cage culture of barred knifejaw.