Progress 05/06/14 to 04/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Fish producers, feed and feed ingredient producers, and research scientists. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Both undergraduate and graduate students participated in this study and learned about the effects of different types of feed supplements on performance, nutrient retention efficiency, and body composition of different fish species. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Presentations at meetings(Aquaculture America, UAPB Research Forum), written abstracts and progress reports. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Collectively, for the whole project new data on performance and nutrient utilization of channel catfish, largemouth bass and Nile tilapia was generated for novel diet ingredients including insect larval meal, plant- versus animal-based proteins in combination with different levels of vitamin A, and dietary protein supplements.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
1. Graham, R., R. Chen, Y. Park, and R. Lochmann. 2015. Responses of channel catfish fed diets with small hive beetle larval meal, poultry by-product meal, or bone meal. Aquaculture America 2015, New Orleans, Louisiana, Feb. 20-22. https://www.was.org/default.aspx#
2. Graham, R., Y. Park, R. Chen and R. Lochmann. 2015. Responses of Channel Catfish Fed Small Hive Beetle Larval Meal, Poultry By- Product Meal, or Bone Meal. 28th Annual Student & Faculty Research Forum, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, April 28.
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Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Fish producers, feed ingredient producers, feed mills, human fish consumers, research scientists Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two graduate students and a research associate gained experience with digestibility trials and sample analysis. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?A feeding trial will be conducted with tilapia using diets formulated on a digestible protein basis to test the efficacy of the supplements that were studied in the digestibility trial relative to other primary protein sources such as soybean meal and fish meal.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Worldwide, tilapia is the most commonly consumed fish. There are concentrated efforts underway to replace expensive and environmentally unsustainable fish meal in diets of tilapia. It is possible to combine some of the most limiting nutrients together with palatability and growth enhancers, and add them as a concentrated supplement to the diet. The digestibility of diets containing these supplements needs to be determined prior to use in feeding trials to determine their full efficacy. We conducted a digestibility trial with Nile tilapia, in which test diets were formulated from a 35% protein commercial-type reference diet and were composed of a 70:30 mix of reference diet to four different commercial feed supplements. Fish were fed to satiation once every morning (0600-0800). Fecal samples in the tanks were collected two months and feces were pooled by tank. Apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) were determined for each diet. There were some differences in lipid and dry matter ADCs among diets, but the ADCs of protein were uniformly high for all diets. This data will be used to formulate diets for feeding trials on an equal-digestible protein basis.
Publications
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Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences for this research are fish producers, feed and feed ingredient producers, and research scientists. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Both undergraduate and graduate students participated in this study and learned about the effects of different types of soy products on the gut microflora of largemouth bass. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Through presentations at Producer and Scientific Meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Conduct more thorough analysis of the gut microflora data, and prepare the results for publication.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We conducted a feeding trial with largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) using different soy products - standard, chemically or heat-treated, and fermented soy products. Standard production data, health indices and gut microflora were examined to assess diet effects. Although only one of the fermented soy products supported growth that was nearly equal to that of the fish-meal control, survival was similar among diets. Alternative complement activity (an index of non-specific immune function) and hepatosomatic index were higher in fish fed the fermented soy diet that supported good growth. The gut microflora in fish fed the best fermented soy diet also had distinctly different gut microflora from fish fed the fish meal control diet or the other soy diets. Further studies are needed to establish links among the different performance results. So far, the impact has been the transmission of new knowledge to producers and scientists.
Publications
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Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences for this research are fish producers, feed and feed ingredient producers, and research scientists. Changes/Problems:One difficulty in this trial included making diets with the target levels of vitamin A we wanted to use - it was quite difficult to mix the concentrated vitamin A supplement into the bulk of ingredients and get the desired increments of vitamin A in the final diets. As a result, the increments were not as evenly spaced as we hoped, though they still covered a wide range. As mentioned previously, the Ich challenge was not successful because the number of theronts available when we wanted to do the challenge was too low to get a response. It is difficult to grow the theronts to a desired density by a certain time - the timing can't really be set by the investigator in advance. Cannibalism was also a problem in this study - in industry, fish are graded frequently to maintain them at a uniform size to discourage cannibalism, but we could not do this in a study where growth was one of the primary diet responses we wanted to measure. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Both undergraduate and graduate students participated in this study and learned new techniques for assessing fish health, such as respiratory burst, and the intricacies of trying to conduct a parasite challenge. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated through a written report so far - some results are still being analyzed statistically, and final results will be presented at scientific meetings and be prepared for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Work with my Post-Doc on finaling results and interpreting them prior to presenting the work at conferences and writing them up for publication.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Largemouth bass (micropterus salmoides) is an economically important sport fish species, as well as food fish for ethnic markets in the United States. There is increasing interest in commercial culture of this species due to high demand and market prices. There is also increasing pressure to identify more profitable and sustainable protein sources for carnivorous fish. With changes in dietary protein sources, there may be a need to re-evaluate the dietary vitamin requirements of the fish. We conducted two concurrent feeding trials to determine how different dietary concentrations of vitamin A in either a plant-based or animal-based diet influenced bass performance. Within the animal series, diets contained 940, 1660, 6060, 6340 or 10,880 IU vitamin A/kg diet. The plant-based diets contained slightly different concentrations of vitamin A (730, 1010, 3190, 4710 or 10.470 IU/kg diet). Feed-trained juvenile largemouth bass were stocked in 4 tanks per diet and fed twice daily to satiation for 12 weeks. Growth performance data as well as vitamin-A deficiency signs, non-specific immune function and survival following challenge with Ichthyophthirius multifilis were measured to assess diet effects. In the animal-based series, weight gain and some hematological parameters improved in fish fed diets with 6060 IU of vitamin A compared to those fed diets with less vitamin A. There were no differences in survival, feed conversion ratio, or non-specific immune responses among diets. In the plant-based diets growth was better in fish fed diets with 3190 IU of vitamin A compared to those fed diets with less vitamin A. Feed conversion ratio was not affected by diet. Survival was reduced at higher levels of vitamin A - apparently due to increased cannibalism. Some hematological parameters were improved at the highest level of vitamin A, while results for non-specific immune parameters were not different or were inconsistent. The "Ich" challenge was not successful in either trial, as the density of theronts used was apparently not adequate to cause the irritation typically seen in fish infested with Ich. The information gained in this trial will be used to adjust the protocol for future trials. The impact of this research so far has been the acquisition of new knowledge.
Publications
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Progress 05/06/14 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Target audiences for this research are fish producers, feed and feed ingredient producers, and research scientists. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? An undergraduate student was involved in this project (although funding came from a different source). She learned more about both insects and fish while handling the beetle larvae to make the meal and maintaining the fish feeding trial. She has made one presentation on the project results, and will make 2 others (one at a national meeting) in the coming year. In addition, a high school student participated in the study and used the results for a science fair project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Some analyses from the study (feed conversion ratio, whole-body analysis of the fish) are still underway, but preliminary results were presented to an Aquatic Animal Nutrition class, and the high-school science fair project is being reviewed. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? I need to consult with the entomologist who provided the small hive beetle larvae to determine the likely causes of the negative results and how we might process the larvae differently to improve the product, since the composition of the beetle larval meal (high in protein and fat) indicates that it should be a good ingredient for a fish diet.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
A meal prepared from larvae of the small hive beetle (a pest of the honeybee) was prepared and tested as a feed ingredient for channel catfish. The fish ate less and grew less on diets containing two different levels of the meal relative to diets with poultry products (high-quality protein sources for catfish). It appears that the beetle meal is not palatable or contains anti-nutritional factors that limit its use as a feed ingredient in its current form. Different processing methods will be considered prior to additional trials with the beetle meal, which is high in protein and fat, similar to other animal ingredients. New animal products that could be used to reduce diet cost and maintain product quality without harming the environment should increase the sustainability of catfish culture. The specific objective addressed for this reporting period is: 3. Determine the effects of alternative dietary protein sources on growth, health, and product quality of channel catfish. We evaluated the effects of a novel protein source made from the larvae of the small hive beetle (SHB; Aethina tumida). This beetle is a parasite of honey bee colonies that reproduces rapidly and produces wandering larvae. We formulated four practical diets with soybean meal as the primary protein source and small amounts of different animal proteins as the experimental variable. The total amount of protein from animal sources (about 3%) was similar across diets. To prepare a meal from the SHB larvae, 1 kg of larvae was washed, frozen and lyophilized. The proximate composition of the meal was determined before the meal was incorporated into diets at 3.2% or 6.3% of the diet. The diet with 3.2% SHB meal also contained poultry by-product meal, while the diet with 6.3% SHB meal contained no other animal protein sources. Two other diets in the study contained either poultry by-product meal as the only animal protein (control), or poultry bone meal as the only animal protein. All diets were formulated to contain 32% total protein and similar amounts of total energy. Groups of 15 juvenile catfish (mean individual initial weight, 7.8 ± 0.03g) were stocked into each of four 110-L aquaria per treatment and randomly assigned to diet. Fish were fed twice daily to satiation on weekdays and once on weekend days. They were weighed every other week to track growth and adjust feed rations. Final weights were obtained at 9 weeks. Catfish fed either diet with SHB meal gained significantly less weight than those fed the diets without SHB larvae (poultry or bone meal only). Survival was 97% or higher on all diets and did not differ among treatments. Non-specific immune parameters (lysozyme and alternative complement activity) did not differ among treatments. Additional research is needed to determine the cause of the reduced growth in channel catfish fed diets with SHB larval meal.
Publications
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