Replacement of squid and krill meal by snail meal (Buccinum striatissimum) in practical diets for juvenile of kuruma shrimp (Marsupenaeus japonicus)

A 60-day feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of substituting squid and krill meal with marine snails (Buccinum striatissimum) into the diets of juvenile kuruma shrimps (Marsupenaeus japonicus). Five experimental diets were formulated to contain varying levels of snail meal at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% (D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5, respectively) and fed to juvenile kuruma shrimps (initial mean weight 0.27 +/- 0.02g). The results showed that weight gain, feed intake and specific growth rate were improved significantly in D4 and D5 groups when compared with D1 group (p<0.05). Significant differences were not detected in survival rate among all shrimps fed diets containing several levels of snail meal (p>0.05). Crude protein content of shrimps fed the control diet was significantly lower than other treatments (p<0.05). Lipid content in shrimps fed 50% snail meal were significantly higher than the control while cholesterol content in shrimps fed 100% snail meal were significantly decreased and polyunsaturated fatty acid contents were significantly increased in shrimps fed 75%-100% snail meal (p<0.05). These results suggest that supplementing snail meal for complete replacement of squid and krill meal can be done to improve juvenile kuruma shrimps' growth and reducing their cholesterol levels.