Production characteristics and body composition of juvenile cobia fed three differentcommercial diets in recirculating aquaculture systems

The effect of feeding three commercial diets on production characteristics and body
composition of juvenile cobia Rachycentron canadum reared using recirculating aquaculture systems (RASs)
was assessed in a 56-d growth trial. Juvenile cobia (mean weight + SE, 29.2 + 0.7 g) were stocked into three
8-mᶟ tanks in each of four RASs at an initial density of 1.2 kg/mᶟ. After stocking, fish were fed one of three
commercial diets: Hybrid Striped Bass diet (HSB; 44% protein, 12% lipid), Finfish Gold diet (GOLD; 42%
protein, 16% lipid), or Marine Grower diet (MG; 50% protein, 15% lipid), all at a targeted feed rate of 3–5%
of body weight per day. At 2-week intervals, 10% of the population of each tank was collected to determine
mean weight, weight gain, specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion efficiency (FCE), and biomass. At the
end of the rearing trial, the entire population of each tank was harvested to determine production
characteristics and survival. In addition, fish were sampled to determine whole-body composition,
hepatosomatic index, intraperitoneal fat ratio, energy retention (ER), protein efficiency ratio (PER), and
protein productive value (PPV).