Interactive effect of dietary vitamin E and inorganic mercury on growth performance and bioaccumulation of mercury in juvenile olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus treated with mercuric chloride

A 6-week feeding trial was carried out to evaluate the effects of dietary vitamin E(DL-a-tocopheryl acetate, TA) on growth and mercury(Hg) accumulation in juvenile olive flounder(Paralichthys olivaceus)treated with mercuric chloride(HgCl_2). Vitamin E and HgCl_2 were added to the semi-purified basal diet.Six semi-purified diets in a 2 × 3 factorial design were formulated to contain 2 levels of Hg(0 or 20 mg HgCl_2/kg diet) and 3 levels of vitamin E(0, 100, or 200 mg TA/kg diet). Experimental fish(n = 360,9.99 ± 0.15 g) were randomly allocated into 30-L tanks at a density of 20 fish per tank with 3 replicates in each treatment and were fed twice a day. At the end of the feeding trial, dietary Hg depressed the growth performances in terms of weight gain(WG), specific growth rate(SGR), feed efficiency(FE) and protein efficiency ratio(PER) in fish, while fish fed the diets supplemented with vitamin E showed significant growth improvement in both presence and absence of HgCl_2 in the diets(P < 0.05). Survival rate was not affected in fish fed the experimental diets. Whole body compositions of fish such as lipid and moisture contents were influenced by dietary vitamin E supplementation. Total Hg contents of muscle, liver and kidney tissues were significantly reduced in fish fed diets supplemented with vitamin E(P< 0.05), while the two-way ANOVA showed that increasing Hg concentration has resulted in a reduction in vitamin E.Whole body fatty acids of fish like eicosapentaenoic acid(EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid(DHA) contents were decreased by dietary Hg. However, supplementation of dietary vitamin E improved the a-linolenic acid(ALA) and EPA contents in fish. Our results suggest that dietary supplementation of vitamin E has potential effects on growth improvement and ameliorating inorganic Hg bioaccumulation in juvenile olive flounder.

A preliminary study of dietary protein requirement of juvenile marbled flounder (Pseudopleuronectes yokohamae)

An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to determine the optimal dietary protein level for juvenile marbled flounder.Five semi-purified test diets were formulated to contain different protein levels(CP)including 42.7%,47.4%,53.3%,58.8%,and 64.5%(dry matter),named as CP42.7,CP47.4,CP53.3,CP58.8,and CP64.5,respectively.Five hundred and twenty-five juveniles(6.0±0.1 g)were randomly distributed into 15 tanks(300 L tanks),resulting in 35 fish per tank(n-3 tanks).Fish were fed the test diets 5 times per day until satiation.The CP58.8 resulted in the highest gain in weight and the best efficiency in feed utilization among the tested protein levels(P<0.05).Fish fed the CP58.8 diet showed significantly higher whole-body protein and lipid contents than the fish that were fed the other diets(P<0.05).Fish fed the CP53.3,CP58.8,and CP64.5 diets showed a significantly higher dorsal-muscle lipid content than the fish that were fed the CP42.7 and CP47.4 diets(P<0.05).The one-slope straight broken-line regression analysis on the results of the thermal growth coefficient and feed conversion ratio indicated that the estimated optimum dietary protein level was 58.8%.Taken together,it is suggested that the dietary protein level of 58.8%is optimal for better growth and high efficiency in feed utilization for the juvenile marbled flounder.