Evaluation of seaweed, Ulva lactuca as a fresh diet for nursery stage of golden rabbitfish, Siganus guttatus

Abstract

Abstract Ulva lactuca is a green seaweed with a high potency to be used as fish diet. The feeding trial aimed to evaluate the use of U.lactuca as fresh diet for the nursery of golden rabbitfish Siganus guttatus . Five treatments were evaluated, namely 100% fresh Ulva (FU), the combination of fresh Ulva and dry pellet with the ratio of 75:25% (UP1), 50:50% (UP2), 25:75% (UP3), and 100% dry pellet (DP) with three replicates. Golden rabbitfish with a mean initial weight of 6.2 g were stocked into fifteen rearing tanks at a density of 20 fish tank −1 . After 90 days, growth responses differed significantly amongst dietary groups. Fish fed DP had similar weight gain (219.86%) to UP3 (232.21%), and its specific growth rate (1.29%/day) was similar to UP2 (1.11%/day) and UP3 (1.33%/day), but significantly different (p<0.05) from FU (SGR -0.25%/day; WG -19.97%). The survival rate of fish fed UP2 (98.33%) was significantly different (p<0.05) from FU (80.00%). The fish body color fed FU had bright yellowish color and high carotenoids (14.69 µg g −1 ) compared to DP. The combination of fresh Ulva with pellet at the same ratio of 50% and 25:75% similar to the 100% pellet diet can support the fish growth.

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