Use of fish and shrimp hydrolysates as dietary supplements to increase feeding and growth of juvenile striped catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus)

A 7-week feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effect of two protein hydrolysates: fish hydrolysate (FH) and shrimp hydrolysate (SH) as feed supplement on growth performance and feed utilization of juvenile striped catfish, Pangasius hypophthalmus. Three isonitrogenous (32% crude protein) and isolipidic (12% crude lipid) experimental diets were formulated: diet 1, control (no supplementation of protein hydrolysates); diet 2, supplemented with 2% FH; and diet 3, supplemented with 2% SH. Each of the diets was fed to triplicate groups of 15 juveniles (initial mean weight of 6.99 g) twice a day until apparent satiation. The results showed that both FH and SH diets exerted positive impact on the growth and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of fish, but the improvement was more pronounced in the former as fish fed with FH diet showed significantly higher (P<0.05) specific growth rate (2.20% day(-1)), weight gain (193.68%), and better FCR (1.23) compared to those fed with control, yet no significant difference was recorded for these metrics between the control and SH group. Besides, fish fed with SH diet had significantly higher hepatosomatic index than those fed with control, and its viscerosomatic index was the highest among all treatment groups. The present study suggested that FH is a potential feed supplement for enhancing feed utilization and growth performance of juvenile striped catfish.

Automated summary

The study found that supplementing with fish hydrolysate (FH) and shrimp hydrolysate (SH) had a positive impact on the growth and feed conversion ratio of juvenile striped catfish, with FH showing more significant improvement in growth performance. Additionally, SH led to higher hepatosomatic and viscerosomatic indices compared to the control group.