Effect of dietary protein on the growth of spiny lobster Panulirus homarus (Linnaeus)

Abstract

Feeding experiments were conducted on the spiny lobster Panulirus homarus (Linnaeus) with pellet diets containing three protein sources viz., fish meal (diet A), squid meal (diet B) and clam meal (diet C). The protein (%) and digestible energy levels (kJg -1 ) were 34.2, 35.8, 35.5 and, 13.75, 13.95, 13.94 respectively for diet A, diet B and diet C. The results indicate that the clam meal diet gave the highest growth of 10.9% (±1.99), followed by squid meal 7.3% (±0.97) and fish meal 6.9% (±0.56). The protein energy ratio was almost equal for all the diets. The one – way ANOVA indicated that weight gain, protein efficiency ratio (PER) and food conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly different (p < 0.05) among the groups receiving different diets but the food consumed was not significantly different.