Aquaculture America 2024

February 18 - 21, 2024

San Antonio, Texas

EVALUATING THE SUPPLEMENTATION OF SOY LECITHIN FOR THE PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES OF CHANNEL CATFISH Ictalurus punctatus

Crystal  L.  Conde*, Vitor  F.  Silva, Ana Beatriz de  S.  Farias, Thiago  M.  Santana, Penelope M. Goodman, J. Grant Reifers, Peter J. Alle n, and  Fernando  Y. Yamamoto.

 

 Thad Cochran National Warmwater Aquaculture Center

Mississippi State University

 Stoneville, MS 38776

cl2144@msstate.edu



 

 Soy lecithin is a valuable co-product of soy oil extraction  with  high content of phospholipids, which can be used as a feed additive for aquafeeds. The supplementation of phospholipids in aquafeeds may have to meet the essential requirements for physiological and metabolic function.  The supplementation of soy lecithin  can influence stress, improve the growth performance ,  and survival of several aquatic species, including channel catfish , Ictalurus punctatus. The present  study is evaluating  incremental doses of soy lecithin (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2%) in catfish diets to determine  the  optimal  supplementation  level in a plant based experimental feed . The fish were  stocked in a recirculating aquaculture system and subjected to a feeding trial for 12 weeks, and this feeding trial is currently ongoing . At the end of the study  production parameters will be collected and  fish will be  challenged by air exposure and stress markers (plasma cortisol, blood glucose, plasma osmolality, and lactate), and hematocri t will be measured. The remaining fish will be subjected to a bacterial challenge (Edwardsiella ictaluri) , to  evaluate disease resistance and survival .  The survival after bacterial challenge will be evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier survival test .