Supplement of various attractants to a practical diet for juvenile Penaeus monodon Fabricius

Abstract

Practical diets supplemented with krill meal (5%), earthworm meal (5%), glycine (2%), sucrose (5%) or mussel extract as an attractant were fed for eight weeks to juvenile Penaeus monodon. The major protein sources of the diets were locally available full-fat soybean meal, fish meal and shrimp meal, and the crude protein level of each diet was adjusted to approximately 40%. For a four to eight-week period, dietary groups supplemented with any type of attractant resulted in better average weight gain than the control group (without any attractant). Prawns fed with a supplementary diet of earthworm meal registered the best growth rate (160% weight gain in eight weeks) which was significantly better than that of the control group. Dietary groups supplemented with earthworm meal and sucrose showed the best and worst survival rates, respectively, in zero to eight-week period. The feed conversion of the latter group was poorest among the dietary groups supplemented with the attractant.