Essentiality of vitamins for juvenile white shrimp, Penaeus indicus

A growth experiment was conducted to evaluate the dietary essentiality of v itamins for juvenile white shrimp, Penaeus indicus. Effects of deletion of individual vitamins [thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, cyanocobalamine, pan tothenic acid. folic acid, niacin, biotin, choline, inositol, ascorbic acid , Vitamin A acetate, calciferol (vitamin D), alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) a nd menadione (vitamin K)] from semi-purified diets on shrimp growth, surviv al and midgut gland morphology were examined in a seven week feeding trial. Growth rate was poorest for the control treatment without vitamin suppleme nts, inositol, choline, pantothenic acid and alpha-tocopherol deficient die ts. Shrimp fed diets deficient in niacin, choline, inositol, ascorbic acid and alpha-tocopherol showed poor survival. All treatments except the contro l diet supplemented with Vitamins and the biotin and menadione deficient di ets showed changes in the midgut cell profile. Detachment or destruction of the epithelial cells was observed in most cases but most severely in the c ontrol treatment without vitamin supplement, followed by the inositol, chol ine and ascorbic acid deficient diets.