Growth performance of the white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, fed on practical diets with increasing levels of the Antarctic krill meal, Euphausia superba, reared in clear- versus green-water culture tanks

Abstract

Litopenaeus vannamei were stocked in 25 clear-water 500-L tanks at 100 shrimp m−2 and in 25 green-water 1000-L tanks at 60 animals m−2. Four diets were formulated to include krill meal at 10, 50 or 110 g kg−1; or krill oil at 25 g kg−1 by replacing fish meal, fish oil, soybean lecithin and cholesterol. Diets had similar levels of crude protein, total energy and essential amino acids. After 72 days, shrimp reared in clear and green water showed no differences in performance among diets. In clear water, shrimp attained 13.1 ± 0.59 g body weight, 1.00 ± 0.06 g week−1 growth, 81.4 ± 7.3% survival, 780 ± 118 g m−2 yield, 16.9 ± 1.8 g shrimp−1 apparent feed intake (AFI), and 2.18 ± 0.29 food conversion ratio (FCR). In green water, shrimp attained 14.3 ± 0.81 g body weight, 1.04 ± 0.09 g week−1 growth, 91.4 ± 5.4% survival, 569 ± 69 g m−2 yield, 20.9 ± 3.2 g shrimp−1 AFI, and 2.22 ± 0.34 FCR. Diets containing krill meal or krill oil were able to fully replace the protein and lipid value of fish meal, fish oil, soybean lecithin and cholesterol at no cost to performance.