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vol-23GROJVTH RATES AND FEED EFFICIENCY OF THE FRESHWATER
PRAWN MACROBRACHIUM ROSENBERGII FED VARYING
PROTEIN AND ENERGY LEVELS
BY
A.-F. M. EL-SAYED*
*Oceanography Dept., Faculty ofScience Unil’. ofAlexandria, Alexandria, Egypt
Keywords: Freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, nutrition, aqua culture.
ABSTRACT
The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects ofvarying
dietary protein and energy levels on the growth, feed utilization
efficiency and body composition offreshwater prawn, Macrobrachium
rosenbergii. Juvenile prawn (0.20 g) were fed diets containing 5protein
levels (20, 25, 30, 35 or 40%) each at 2 energy levels (350 or 450 keal
GEl100 g diet) ad libitum, once a day for 90 days. Growth rates and
feed utilization efficiency were significantly improved with increasing
dietary protein levels up to 35%. Beyond this level, no significant
improvement in prawn performance was evident. At each protein level,
increasing dietary energy from 350 to 450 keal1100 g had no effect on
prawn performance, except at the lowest protein level where fish
performance was improved with increasing dietary energyfrom 350 to
450 keal1100 g. With the exception oflipid contents, body compositions
were not significantly affected by dietary treatments. Body lipid content
was increased with increasing dietary energy (lipid) levels. These
results revealed that optimum growth ofM. rosenbergii was obtained at
35% protein and 350 keal GE 1100 diet, with a protein-to-energy ratio
of 100 mg protein/kcal GE. Prawn survival was not significantly
affected by dietary treatments.
