Amino Acid Profile of Caspian Sea Carp (Cyprinus carpio) during Ontogenetic Development: Applications to Feed Formulation

Fish larvae have a high requirement of amino acid (AA) for energy production and growth. This study was aimed to increase knowledge of AA profile during feral carp larval ontogeny and estimate larval AA requirements. Larvae were collected randomly at 1, 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 26 and 33 days post hatch for growth and AA analysis. The composition of total AA changed significantly during ontogeny. The essential AA profile of marine carp showed low correlation with rotifers (R2=0.22). High correlation was found between dry food and early larval ages (R2≥0.7) but was lower in late stage (R2≥0.37). At day 7, when larvae were fed on rotifers, methionine seemed to be the limiting AA and when larvae were fed dry food at day 11, 15, 19, 26 and 33, arginine seemed to be the limiting AA. Larval indispensible AA profile can be used as index of the IAA requirements of carp larvae. Supplementation of larval diet used with limiting AA is one way for compensating the deficient amino acid.