Effects of dietary supplementation of alga Haematococcus pluvialis (Flotow), synthetic astaxanthin and o-carotene on survival, growth, and pigment distribution of red devil, Cichlasoma citrinellum (Gconther)

摘要

Dietary carotenoids of various types and concentration can affect the pigmentation efficiency in an ornamental fish red devil, Cichlasoma citrinellum. Astaxanthin (AX) containing alga Haematococcus pluvialis, a synthetic AX, and a synthetic o-carotene (BC) were supplemented in formulated diets at two concentrations, 80 and 160 mg kgp#, resulting in six pigmented diets. Formulated diet without carotenoids supplementation served as a control. These diets were fed to the fish, for 8 weeks. Astaxanthin dominated in body carotenoids deposition. Dietary BC hardly had contribution to body AX. Control fish had much lower AX content in skin, fin and muscle than fish fed pigmented diets, but had equal AX content in liver, intestine and gonad as those fish. Dietary synthetic AX had equal efficiency in depositing AX in skin and fin as natural AX but higher efficiency in gonad than natural AX. Fish fed AX supplemented at 160 mg kgp#, either natural or synthetic AX, had higher AX content in skin than fish at 80 mg kgp# but had equal AX content in fin as fish at 80 mg kgp#. Disregarding the treatment effects, the overall average AX content in tissue in descending order was gonad>fin[greater, double equals](intestine=skin)>liver>muscle.