Feed intake assessment on sub-adult spiny lobster Panulirus homarus fed a range of pellet and fresh feeds under a variety of feeding regimes

Abstract

Low feed intake has been considered a major problem in applying formulated feed for grow-out of spiny lobster (Panulirus homarus). This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of fishery hydrolysate in feed formulation and the co-feeding of formulated feed with fresh food on the feed intake of spiny lobster. Five experiments of feed intake assessment were conducted using either different sources (tuna, crustacean and mussel) or levels (0%, 1%, 2% and 3%) of hydrolysates, and experiments on different feeding schemes where lobsters fed either only formulated feed or formulated feed and fresh food. Each experiment was performed for 2 weeks using 16 fiberglass tanks (300 L) filled with seawater and each experiment has 4 treatments with 4 replicates. The experiment showed that including fish hydrolysate 2%, crustacean hydrolysate 1% (dry) or 2% (liquid), or 2 % tuna hydrolysate in feed increased the feed intake of spiny lobster. Feed intake of formulated feed decreased when they fed in combination with mixed fresh food. Feed intake of lobster fed mixed fresh food was lower than that fed either mussel or crab only, and lobster fed only fish exhibited the lowest feed intake.