Vitamin E Requirement of the Prawn Artemesia Longinaris (Decapoda, Penaeidae)

Abstract

Two trials were conducted to evaluate the growth and survival of Argentine prawn Artemesia longinaris fed with different levels of vitamin E and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) in a semi purified diet. The feeding trial consisted of 0, 1500 and 3000 mg vitamin E/kg diet, and 0.5 mg BHT/kg diet (trial 1) and 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 mg vitamin E/kg diet (trial 2). After 40 days (trial 1), survival of prawns fed diets with 3000 mg vitamin E/kg diet was significantly (P < 0.05) lower (59%) than the other treatments. Prawns fed diets supplemented with 1500 mg/kg diet exhibited high weight gain (71.3%), however no significant differences were found among treatments. After 32 days (trial 2), prawns fed a diet containing 1500 mg vitamin E, exhibited higher survival (72%), than the other treatments (53–64%), and the percent weight gain ranged from 38.1 to 61.5% with no significant differences among treatments. The results of this study indicate that the dietary vitamin E requirement of A. longinaris, under the particular experimental conditions, is around 1500 mg/kg diet.