J. Schmidt, A.A. Bischoff, M. Weiß, S.K. Kim, S. Frickenhaus, M.J. Slater and B.H. Buck
Continuously intensifying aquaculture demands reductions in pathogen infections without increased therapeutics use. A potential solution is the use of prebiotic feed additives like β-glucan and mannan oligosaccharides (MOS). This study focusses (1) on the effect of prebiotics glucan/MOS on growth and fitness of Starry flounder and (2) on the viability of Starry flounder as an aquaculture candidate (as it is considered in South Korea). Over 56- days, juvenile Starry flounder were fed with glucan/MOS enhanced diet and a control diet. Feeding behavior, growth rate, morphological and blood physiological parameters were monitored. Fish fed glucan/MOS enriched diets exhibited significantly increased growth over the experimental period (GLM, p<0.01). Concentrations of cholesterol (P=0.043) and albumin (P=0.016) were significantly increased in the blood plasma of fish fed glucan/MOS. Whole body proximate analysis revealed significantly elevated crude protein (P=<0.001) and lipid (P=<0.005) in fish fed glucan/MOS compared to the control. Significant improvements in growth, numerous fitness factors and product quality parameters can be achieved through glucan/MOS supplementation to P. stellatus. The observed growth performance and the feed conversion ratio, especially at low water temperatures, suggest Starry flounder is indeed a promising candidate for aquaculture in temperate regions. More detailed investigation, highlighting the economic and market perspective, is needed before introduction to commercial production.
English 
Spanish 
Chinese 
Russian 
German 
French 
Portuguese 
Hindi