Replacing Fish Meal with Defatted Insect Meal (Yellow Mealworm Tenebrio molitor ) Improves the Growth and Immunity of Pacific White Shrimp ( Litopenaeus vannamei )

摘要

Recently, ecological and economic issues have affected fish meal (FM) supply, the main source of protein for shrimp. This triggered a search for alternative dietary protein sources for shrimp production. We studied the consequences of replacing FM with a defatted insect meal, ?nMeal TM (YM), comprised of yellow mealworm ( Tenebrio molitor ). Growth and immune parameters of juvenile Pacific white shrimp ( Litopenaeus vannanmei ) were compared after an eight-week feeding trial. Shrimp were kept in aquaria with densities of 60 and 40 shrimp/m 2 and fed one of five diets in which a proportion of FM was replaced by YM. All diets were isoproteic, isoenergetic, and balanced in lysine and methionine. After the feeding trial, shrimp were challenged with pathogenic bacteria ( Vibrio parahaemolyticus ). Growth and feed conversion parameters improved when YM was included in shrimp diets; with the highest weight gain and best food conversion ratio (FCR) achieved when 50% of FM was replaced by YM versus the control diet that contained no YM (initial weight: 1.60 g/shrimp; growth: 5.27 vs. 3.94 g/shrimp; FCR 1.20 vs. 1.59). In challenged shrimp, mortality rates were significantly less among groups that received YM, with a 76.9% lower mortality rate in the 50% FM replacement group versus the control.