Utilization of Soybean Meal as a Protein Source in the Diet of Juvenile Japanese Flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus

Abstract

Feeding experiments were conducted at 20 °C with diets containing 0, 20, 35, and 44 % of defatted soybean meal to examine the potential of soybean meal as a substitute for fish meal in the diet of Japanese flounder. Juvenile fish, about 3 g in initial body weight, were fed on each diet to satiation twice a day for 6 days a week for 8 weeks.
The weight gain of fish fed on the diets containing soybean meal with amino acid supplement were similar to the control (0 % soybean meal diet), but fish fed on the diet without amino acid supplement gained less weight. The feed conversion efficiency and protein efficiency ratio tended to decrease slightly as the proportion of soybean meal in the diet increased. There was little difference in the proximate composition of the whole body together with the hematological and hematochemical parameters among the dietary groups tested.