Growth, body chemical composition and trypsin activity of South American catfish, surubim (Pseudoplatystoma sp.) juveniles fed different dietary protein and lipid levels

To evaluate protein and lipid requirement of South American catfish surubim (Pseudoplatystoma sp.) juveniles, nine semi-purified diets containing three levels of protein (40%, 45% and 50%) and three levels of lipid (12%, 16% and 20%) were tested. After 8-week feeding trial, body weight increase averaged 2124.3 +/- 295.7%. Growth performance was significantly affected by dietary level of protein (P<0.05). At the 40% protein level, increasing level of dietary lipid had a positive effect on final individual mean weight (protein sparing effect). Whole body protein and moisture contents were affected by the dietary level of lipid (P<0.05). Whole body lipid content positively correlated with the level of dietary lipid (P<0.05). Cannibalism related mortality was observed despite rearing fish in 24h dark. Fatty acid composition of fish was affected by the dietary lipid level (P<0.05). Polyunsaturated fatty acids increased with the increasing level of dietary lipid while saturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids decreased. Trypsin activity in the digestive tract of surubim was influenced by dietary levels of protein and lipid (P<0.05). Our preliminary results suggest that the optimum protein/lipid ratio might be close to 45/16% for surubim juveniles.