The influence of genetic selection, starter diet and training duration on the ability of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) fingerlings to accept feeds / Eduardo Akifumi Ono.

Tese (mestre) - Auburn University, 1996

The effect of genetic selection, starter diet and duration of feed training on the success of largemouth bass (LMB) to accept dry pellets was evaluated. Ground fish flesh, freeze dried krill, a semi-moist pellet with 80% ground fish flesh and 20% trout pellet meal and commercial dry trout pellet were tested as starter diets on offspring of broodfish fed dry pellets for two generations (Meridian select bass) and offspring of broodfish fed forage (Meridian bass). Meridian select bass had more feeders on starter and final diets than Meridian bass, suggesting that selection of broodfish for feed acceptance improved feed training success of their offspring. Freeze dried krill was a better starter diet for 1-g Meridian select LMB than gorund fish flezh, semi-moist pellets or trouts pellets. Freeze dried krill and ground fish flesh were equally efficient as starter diets on Meridian bass. Bass started on freeze dried krill were successfully weaned to trout pellets by graduallt replacing krill meal with trout pellet meal. Strategies to abbreviate the period required to wean 1-g LMB from freeze dried krill to dry trout pellets were evaluated. Eight weaning diet sequences fed for 6 to 15 days were tested. Bass weaned to trout pellets using diet sequences with 80, 60, 40 and 20% krill meal each fed for 2 or 3 days, 75, 50 and 25% krill meal each fed for 2 or 3 days or 60, 40 and 20% krill meal fed for 3 days each resulted in the highest number of feeders on trout pellets. Ninety-eight to 99% of the bass stocked were weaned to trout pellets using the five best weaning strategies. Feeding each weaning diet for 2 d resulted in as many bass eating trout pellets as feeding each weaning diet 3 days.