The increasing cost and limited production of marine-based feedstuffs has prompted the industry to develop and evaluate alternative protein sources that are cost effective and nutritionally viable for use in aquaculture feeds. One such alternative protein source is black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFM) , which is rich in protein and lipids. In the lipid fraction of BSFM, lauric acid (C12:0; hereafter C12) is a major fatty acid which has been found to have virucidal and bactericidal properties.
An 8-week growth trial was conducted to access the responses of Pacific white shrimp to purified C12 and two BSFMs: a control meal with basal levels of C12 and another C12 enriched by using coconut as substrate for larval growth . The experiment was designed with seven diets comprising a BSFM- and C12-free negative control diet (NCTL), three diets supplemented with purified C12 (D1-D3) , and an other three diets containing different levels of each BSFM partially replacing dietary soybean meal on a isonitrogenous basis (D5 to D7) . At the commencement of the feeding trial, h and-sorted groups of 12 shrimp (initial weight = 1.2g/shrimp) were stocked in 35, 110 L glass aquaria operating as a recirculating aquaculture system and were fed the randomly assigned diets (n = 5) four times daily. Water quality parameters were maintained within adequate ranges for Pacific white shrimp.
At the conclusion of the feeding trial the growth rate (GR) of the shrimp fed the BSFM diets was higher than that of groups fed purified C12 diets (P<0.05; Table 1) . The combination of the BSFMs in D6 supported higher protein retention (PR) compared to purified C12 diets and D7 , while energy retention (ER) was higher in shrimp fed D5 than in those fed purified C12 diets and D7 (P<0.05). Data on shrimp whole-body proximate composition, fatty acid profiles, and diet digestibility will be presented. Overall, our findings with Pacific white shrimp indicate that i) dietary levels of C12 up to 1.6% are not detrimental to production performance; ii) BSFM containing up to 2.3% C12 and included at 11% in diets are well accepted and support good production performance ; iii) BSF larvae can be successfully enriched with C12 with potential health benefits.