Inclusion effect of soybean meal, fermented soybean meal, and Saccharina japonica in extruded pellet for juvenile abalone (Haliotis discus, Reeve 1846)

Inclusion effect of soybean meal (SBM) and fermented SBM (FSM) in extruded pellet for juvenile abalone (Haliotis discus) was compared in abalone farm. Dietary inclusion effect of the combined macroalgae (MA) (Undaria pinnatifida and Hizikia fusiforme) and a single Saccharina japonica on abalone was also compared. Three thousand six hundred juvenile abalone were purchased from a private hatchery and acclimated to the experimental conditions for 2 weeks. Six 5-ton flow-through raceway tanks were used, and abalone were randomly distributed into tanks (n = 600 per tank). Three experimental diets were prepared in duplicate. Fish meal, FSM, corn gluten meal, and shrimp meal and wheat flour and dextrin were used as the protein and carbohydrate sources, respectively, in the FSM diet. MA was also included in the FSM diet. FSM and MA in the FSM diet were substituted with SBM at the expense of wheat flour and S. japonica, referred to as the SBM and SJ diets. The experimental diets were pelletized by an extruded pelleter. Water stability of nutrients in the experimental diets was monitored at 12, 24, and 48 h after seawater immersion. The experimental diets were fed to abalone once a day to satiation with a little leftover for 120 days. The retained crude protein and lipid and ash content of the extruded pellets were changed over all period of time. Weight gain and specific growth rate (SGR) of abalone fed the SBM diet were greater than those of abalone fed the FSM and SJ diets. Weight gain and SGR of abalone fed the SJ diet were also greater than those of abalone fed the FSM diet. The longest shell length, widest shell width, highest shell height, and greatest soft body weight were obtained in abalone fed the SBM diet, followed by the SJ and FSM diets. Proximates of the soft body of abalone were not different among the experimental diets. In conclusion, SBM was a superior protein source to FSM in extruded pellet for growth performance of abalone. Dietary inclusion of a single S. japonica was superior to the combined inclusion of U. pinnatifida and H. fusiforme in the production of abalone.