Wm. Sealey et Dm. Gatlin, Dietary vitamin C requirement of hybrid striped bass Morone chrysops female x M-saxatilis male, J WORLD A C, 30(3), 1999, pp. 297-301
A feeding trial was conducted to determine the dietary vitamin C requiremen
t of juvenile hybrid striped bass Morone chrysops x M. saxatilis. Fish were
fed a semi-purified basal diet with 40% crude protein and an energy to pro
tein ratio of 8 kcal/g for a conditioning period of 2 wk. This diet which w
as not supplemented with vitamin C contained approximately 6-mg vitamin C/k
g. Following conditioning, fish (approximately 0.55 g initial weight) were
stocked as groups of 20 in 38-L, aquaria and fed the basal diet and experim
ental diets supplemented with 10, 20, 30, 45, 60, 75, or 150-mg vitamin C/k
g as ascorbate polyphosphate for a period of 10 wk. Fish fed the basal diet
and the diet supplemented with 10-mg vitamin C/kg exhibited signs of vitam
in C deficiency including suppressed weight gain, reduced plasma and liver
ascorbic acid levels, and abnormalities in isthmus cartilage formation. Pla
sma and liver ascorbic acid levels generally reflected dietary supplementat
ion with the lowest levels occurring in fish fed the basal diet and higher
levels in fish fed the supplemented diets. The minimum dietary requirement
(+/- SE) based on non-linear least squares regression analysis of weight ga
in was 22 (+/- 6) mg vitamin C/kg diet.