ALBERT

Notes: The present study examined the distribution of particle sizes in two experimental standardized lipid emulsions (distributed by ICES, International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) as a function of the preparation method (hand shaking or ultrasonic blending) and as a function of storage time. A 24-h enrichment trial compared the incorporated HUFA levels in the nauplii of Artemia franciscana.The emulsion droplets in the 50% HUFA emulsion (ICES 50, ethyl ester based) were much smaller than in the 30% HUFA emulsion (ICES 30, triacylglycerol-based) in which 90% of the droplets had a diameter below 12.3 μm as compared to 1.3 pn in ICES 50. The blending method highly affected particle sizes. High-shear blending instead of the classical hand shaking of the emulsion of both ICES 30 and 50 reduced the mean particle size from 5.06 to 1.07 μm and from 0.38 to 0.11 μm, respectively. The particle size distributions remained stable during the 1-wk storage, suggesting the absence of agglomeration or bacterial development. The fatty acid composition of 24-h enriched Artemia reflected differences in the HUFA profile of the emulsions, but was independent of observed differences in the size of the particles.

Notes: An 8-wk feeding trial was conducted to estimate the optimum dietary protein level and protein-to-energy (P/E) ratio in juvenile Korean rockfish Sebastes schlegeli. Twenty experimental diets were formulated with four energy levels and five protein levels at each energy level. Four gross energy levels of 14.2, 16.5, 18.6, and 20.9 kJ/g diet were included at various crude protein (CP) levels. Diets containing CP at 30, 40, 45, 50, and 55% had either 14.2 or 16.5 kJ/g energy; those with CP levels of 35, 40, 45, 50, and 60% had either 18.6 or 20.9 kJ/ g energy. After 2 wk of conditioning, fish initially averaging 7.3 ± 0.04 g (means ± SD) were randomly distributed into net cages as groups of 20 fish. Each diet was fed to fish in three randomly selected net cages for 8 wk.After 8 wk of the feeding trial, weight gain (WG) of fish fed 50% and 55% CP with 14.2 kJ/g diet was significantly higher than those of fish fed 30% and 40% CP diets (P 0.05). WG of fish fed 45, 50, and 55% CP with 16.5 kJ/g diet was significantly higher than those of fish fed 30% and 40% CP diets (P 〈 0.05). WG of fish fed 60% CP with 18.6 kJ/g diet was significantly higher than those of fish fed 35, 40, and 45% CP diets. WG of fish fed 45% CP with 20.9 kJ/g diet was significantly higher than those of fish fed 35, 40, and 60% CP diets. Generally, feed efficiency (FE) and specific growth rate (SGR) showed a similar trend as WG. However, protein efficiency ratio (PER) was negatively related to dietary protein levels. WG of fish did not always increase with increasing dietary protein and energy levels.Comprehensive comparison among diets containing 40, 45, and 50% CP with different energy levels indicated that the increase in protein from 40 to 45% significantly increased WG (P 〈 0.05), but such effect was not significant when protein increased from 45 to 50% at all energy levels. Increasing dietary energy significantly increased WG of fish fed 40% and 45% CP at each energy level; however, there was no difference in WG of fish fed 50% CP with energy levels of 18.6 and 2.9 kJ/g diet. There was no significant difference in WG of fish fed 50% CP with 18.6 kJ/g or 45 and 50% CP with 20.9 kJ/g diet.Broken-line analysis of weight gain indicated that the optimum dietary protein level was 50.9 ± 1.1% and PIE ratio was 35.4 ± 0.8 mg/kJ with 14.2 kJ/g diet; the optimum dietary protein level was 49.3 ± 5.0% and P/E ratio was 30.2 ± 1.0 mg/kJ with 16.5 kJ/g diet; the optimum dietary protein level was 46.2 ± 9.2% and P/E ratio was 24.7 ± 4.9 mg/kJ with 18.6 kJ/g diet; and the optimum dietary protein level was 45.1 ± 1.8% and P/E ratio was 21.5 ±0.7 with 20.9 kJ/g diet. Therefore, these data indicated that the concept of P/E ratio must be restricted to diets containing adequate protein and energy levels. Based on WG, the optimum P/E ratio was between 21.5 and 35.4 mg protein/kJ gross energy in juvenile Korean rockfish when gross energy ranged from 14.2 to 20.9 kJ/g diet.

Notes: Abstract.— The aim of this study was to compare the levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) in three different bisexual and one parthenogenetic strains of Artemia after enrichment. Freshly-hatched nauplii from A. franciscana (Great Salt Lake, USA), A. sinica (Yimeng, P. R. China), A. persimilis (Argentina), and A. parthenogenetica (Tanggu, P. R. China) were enriched with a purified lipid emulsion containing 95% DHA ethyl esters (% total fatty acids) and subsequently starved. All strains had very low initial DHA levels (〈 0.3 mg/g dry weight). Initial eicosapentaenoic acid, 20:5n-3 (EPA) levels were high in A. parthenogenetica (18.2 mg/g dry weight) as compared to those in the other strains (4.6-8.5 mg/g dry weight). After 24-h enrichment, A. sinica contained the highest DHA level (37.0 mg/g dry weight) as well as the highest DHA/ EPA ratio (3.7). The lowest DHA enrichment levels were found in A. franciscana and A. parthenogenetica (26.3 and 22.7 mg/g dry weight, respectively). During the subsequent 24-h starvation period, the contents of DHA decreased rapidly in all strains, whereas EPA levels remained relatively stable. This indicates the high catabolism of DHA for energy production, the relative conservation of EPA, and possibly a partial bioconversion of DHA to EPA during the starvation period in each species.