GROWTH AND BODY-COMPOSITION OF JUVENILE HYBRID BLUEGILL LEPOMIS-CYANELLUS X LEPOMIS-MACROCHIRUS FED PRACTICAL DIETS CONTAINING VARIOUS PERCENTAGES OF PROTEIN

Growth, survival, and body composition were evaluated in two feeding t rials using juvenile hybrid bluegill Lepomis cyanellus X L. macrochiru s. In Experiment 1, hybrid bluegill (20 g) were stocked into 1.25-m(3) cages at a rate of 300 fish/cage and fed diets containing 35, 40, 44, or 48% protein for 12 wk. Fish meal comprised 32% of the dietary prot ein in all diets. Fish were fed all they could consume in 40 min. No s ignificant differences (P > 0.05) in individual length, individual wei ght, specific growth rate (SGR), condition factor (K), and feed conver sion ratio (FCR) were found among treatments and averaged 13.4 cm, 47. 4 g, 1.02%/d, 1.96, and 4.06, respectively. Whole-body composition of hybrid bluegill indicated that fish fed a diet containing 35% protein had a significantly lower (P < 0.05) percentage protein (56.3%) and a higher (P < 0.05) percentage lipid (29.3%) compared to fish fed diets containing 40, 44, and 48% protein. In Experiment 2, 15 hybrid bluegil l(l5 g) were stocked into 110-L aquaria and fed one of four diets cont aining 28, 32, 36, or 38% protein for 10 wk. Fish were fed twice daily all they would consume in 20 min. Fish fed a diet containing 38% prot ein had higher (P < 0.05) percentage weight gain (265%) than fish fed diets containing 28% (203%) and 32% (219%) protein, but mere not signi ficantly different (P > 0.05) compared to fish fed a diet containing 3 6% protein (251%). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) of hybrid bluegill fed diets containing 36% and 38% protein (average 1.39) were significantly lower (P < 0.05) than fish fed a diet with 28% protein (1.73). Result s from these studies indicate that hybrid bluegill can he fed a practi cal diet containing 35-36% protein (with fish meal comprising 32% of t he protein). Further refinement of the diet formulation may allow prod ucers to reduce diet and production costs.