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Effects of intermittent feeding on water quality, skin parasites, feed consumption, and growth performance of juvenile longfin yellowtail Seriola rivoliana (Valenciennes, 1833)

Abstract:

This study investigated the effect of intermittent feeding on the water quality, occurrence of skin parasites, feed consumption, and growth performance of juveniles (102.7 ± 5.1 g) longfin yellowtail, Seriola rivoliana. Fish were exposed for 89 days to six different feeding regimes: continuous daily feeding fed one or twice a day (treatment 24R1 and 24R2); 2-day fasting and refed once or twice a day for 1 day (treatment 48R1 and 48R2); and 3-day fasting and refed once or twice a day for 1 day (treatment 96R1 and 96R2). Water quality was not affected by feeding strategies. Likewise, condition factor was not affected by fasting up 48 hr. On the other hand, lowest survival in 96R1 was not related with abundance of skin parasites (Neobenedenia girellae). Specific growth rate, feed intake, feed efficiency, and morphological indices were not statistically different (p > 0.05) between 2 days fasted fish and continuously fed fish. Partial compensatory growth in 48R2 could be attributed to a hyperphagic consumption (8.2 ± 1.1 g day−1 fish−1) and feed conversion efficiency (0.61 ± 0.03). A feeding strategy based on cyclical 48 hr of starvation followed by 1 day of refeeding twice may be used for on-growing juvenile longfin yellowtail without reduction in growth or welfare of fish.