Effect of dietary arginine levels on growth performance, protein synthesis, antioxidant capacity and immunity of postlarval mud crab Scylla paramamosain

This study investigated the effects of different dietary arginine (Arg) levels on the growth, protein synthesis, antioxidant capacity, and immunity of postlarval mud crab Scylla Paramamosain. Six isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets were formulated to contain 1.51%, 1.81%, 2.16%, 2.35%, 2.73%, and 3.07% dietary Arg levels (dry matter). There were four replicates for each diet treatment (26 crabs per replicate, initial body weight: 7.40 ± 0.15 mg). After eight weeks of feeding trial, the survival and molting frequency (MF) of crabs were not affected by the experimental treatment (P>0.05). Crabs fed the 2.50% Arg diet achieved the highest weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) (P