The prawn, Penaeus japonicus, was reared in a series of aquariums with artificial diets composed of squid meal, white fish meal, dry powder of mysid shrimps, active sludge, yeasts and others; and their resultant effects on the prawn were studied.
Diets with a high rate of feed intake do not always bring out an effective growth rate on the prawn. The growth rate of the prawn to fixed amounts of the diets consumed can be measured to show the feed efficiency. Accordingly, it is reasonable to assume that we have to estimate the quality of the artificial diets by first comparing feed efficiencies on culturing and the respective growth rates.
It was ascertained that there is a correlation between feed efficiency and the amount of crude protein in the diets; and that diets containing large amounts of crude protein are capable of showing high feed efficiendy when given to the prawn.
