Amino Acid Availability of Soybean Meal for Florida Pompano

Availability of amino acids in soybean meal was determined in a feeding trial with Florida pompano Trachinotus carolinus by using a standard digestibility marker method. Fecal samples were manually stripped from anesthetized fish to avoid contact with water and resultant leaching losses. Apparent amino acid availability coefficients (mean +/- SD) for dehulled, solvent-extracted soybean meal ranged from 78.4 +/- 2.2% to 96.5 +/- 1.0%. Apparent energy digestibility was 67.4 +/- 0.8%. Apparent crude protein digestibility was 84.3 +/- 0.5%.