FATTER. FASTER WITH BUGS: HOW MULTI-STRAIN PROBIOTICS IMPROVED GROWTH, INTESTINAL HEALTH, AND MORTALITY IN RED DRUM Sciaenops ocellatus JUVENILES

Probiotics are live microorganisms, which confer health benefits to the host when administered in adequate amounts . They have  been  shown to affect fish health  through  improved gut health and stabilizing gut flora, improved growth and immunity in some fishes, an d increased survivorship of others. In the present study, analyses of growth performance, intestinal morphology, mortality rates and feed conversion efficiency (FCE; mass gained (g) /mass of feed (g)) were compared for juvenile red drum  (Sciaenops ocellatus)  treated with the multi-strain probiotics  using two methods of administration: 1)  added to water and,   2) added to feed.

DDetails of the methods: For the water-soluble probiotic trials (WSP) (n = 3) a total number of 1,080 juvenile red drum ( S. ocellatus ) were used. For

the Probiotic Enhanced Starter Feed (PESF) trial (n =1) a total number of 120 juvenile red drum ( S. ocellatus ) were used. The water-based, multi-bacteria probiotic, PrimaLac® approved for the aquaculture industry, containing  Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei , Bifido bacterium bifidium, Enterococcus faecium used in this study, obtained from Star Labs© (Missouri, USA).  The feed used in this study was formulated at Rangen Inc, Idaho for Ekstrom Aquaculture LLC (Copper Shoals Red Drum and Ekstrom Enterprises) [44% crude protein, 15% crude fat, 3% crude fiber, 1% phosphorus, and 12% ash].

Overall, results show that with the use of the water probiotics there was a growth increase by 21 days of 32 percent (p<.05) and with the feed treatment (PESF), though not as great an increase at 22% by 21 days, it was still quite significant (p<.05). Even though the growth was not as much when using only the feed administration method, the growth for both groups was greater than that of the controls from both administration methods. The mortality was also decreased significantly in the first 21 days over controls. This shows that not only were the red drum growing more rapidly they were also coping with stressful tank conditions and adapting to the changes with the use of probiotics.

This was partly explained by Differences in intestinal structure and morphology suggested that  increased surface area of  gut epithelial linings of the gut  and  increased goblet cell production in the distal intestineas well as, gut length , which likely  may have led to enhancedincreased nutrient absorption, and improved growth performance as well as reduced waste (digesta).  These results have Analyses are ongoing to determine which method of administering probiotics; 1) added to the water or 2) added to the feed, result in thclear benefits to the sustainable aquaculture industry, a nd show that you can create fish "fatter, faster with bugs."e greatest gains in growth and reductions in mortality, so as to best benefit the aquaculture industry