Comparative Growth Performance of Early Juvenile Haliotis asinina fed Various Artificial Diets

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare artificial diets for early juvenile abalone, Haliotis asinina, containing different sources of protein. Juvenile H. asinina with mean initial shell length of 5.3-5.6 mm were fed artificial diets for 90 days. Diets contained 30% crude protein from different sources: casein, fish meal, soybean meal, and rice bran. The diets were fed to abalone at 5-10% body weight once daily in the afternoon. Abalone fed Acanthophora sp. served as a control. The results showed that the abalone fed fresh Acanthophora sp. and those receiving the casein-based diet had the highest growth rates in shell length (96.7 [+ or -] 8.0 [micro]m/day and 96.3 [+ or -] 6.7 [micro]m/day, respectively). Those fed the casein-based diet showed the highest growth rate in weight (8.6 [+ or -] 0.3 [micro]g/day). The best survival rates were found in abalone fed Acanthophora sp., the soybean-based diet and the casein-based diet (88.9%, 81.1%, and 78.9%, respectively). The casein diet yielded the maximum rate of growth and survival.