Nutritional requirements of the puffer fish: Purified test diet and the optimum protein level.

Abstract

Feeding trials were conducted on the effects of levels of dietary protein (casein), lipid (pollack liver oil), minerals, and vitamins on the growth of the puffer fish, Fugu rubripes. The growth response was examined in terms of weight gain, feed conversion efficiency, protein efficiency ratio, and net protein utilization in 3 week-feeding exaperiment at 25-26°C. Resuts from these studies indicated that the optimum protein level for the puffer fish was about 50% in the diet when casein was used as a protein source. Also, the optimum level of lipids, minerals, and vitamins were estimated to be about 6% (or less), 4%, and 3% in the diet, respectively.