Growth of juvenile Chinese sturgeon Acipenser sinensis fed live and formulated diets

Triplicate groups of 3.8-g juvenile Chinese sturgeon Acipenser sinensis wer e reared for 8 weeks in indoor flow-through systems on one of four diets: a natural diet consisting solely of live tubificid worms, a semimoist practi cal diet, a dry practical diet, and a purified diet. The formulated diets w ere prepared in the laboratory and had protein contents of 47-50%. Except f or the group fed the purified diet, fish showed high survival (94-96%) and growth (final weight, 41-45 g). Survival and specific growth rate did not d iffer significantly between groups fed the natural, semimoist, and dry prac tical diets, but were significantly (P < 0.05) lower in fish fed the purifi ed diet. Proximate analysis showed that fish fed purified diet had lower pr otein and lipid levels but a higher moisture content than fish fed other di ets. Our results demonstrated that growth and survival of cultured juvenile Chinese sturgeon fed practical diets were comparable with those fed live t ubificid worms. However, Chinese sturgeon fed a purified diet showed inferi or growth and survival.