Optimal Dietary Lipid Requirement for Grey Mullet (Mugil cephalus)

Study on dietary lipid requirement was carried out to evaluate the optimum level of lipid for formulating cost effective feed ofMugil cephalus. A 42-day of experiment was conducted with twenty five fishes of average wt. ranging from 0.76 to 0.84 g per replicate and were stocked in fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) tanks containing 400 liter strained clear brackish water in triplicate. Four iso-proteinous (CP-30%) purified diets were prepared with supplemented lipid level of 0, 3, 6 and 9% and were fed to fishes of groups I, II, III and IV, respectively, @ 10% body weight. Total live weight gain (g) and weight gain percent was higher in group supplemented with 6% lipid. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was found to be significantly (P<0.01) lower in fish supplemented with 6% lipid than that of fish fed other test diets. Protein efficiency ratio was significantly higher (p<0.01) in fish fed diet with 6% lipid. Therefore, it can be concluded that optimum dietary lipid requirement of Mugil cephalus fry is 6%.