Feed formulation and feeding of cultured Sobaity seabream (Sparidentex hasta)

Sobaity seabream is one of the candid species for mariculture in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea, in this regard; several studies have been done to find optimum feed formulation for this species. The results of these researches revealed that feed formulation for this species should have at least ca. 48% crude protein, 15% crude lipid, 15% carbohydrates and 20 KJ/g gross energy. In addition, the optimum essential amino acid profile for this species (expressed as g 16 g N), should be approximately arginine 5.3, lysine 6.0, threonine 5.2, histidine 2.5, isoleucine 4.6, leucine 5.4, methionine + cysteine 4.0 (in a diet containing 0.6 cysteine), phenylalanine + tyrosine 5.6 (in a diet containing 1.9 tyrosine), tryptophan 1.0 and valine 4.6. Moreover, the optimum dietary n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and soybean lecithin are recommended to be 0.8% and 6%, respectively. The maximum replacement of fish meal with soy protein is recommended to be 27.3%. On the other hand, this recommends partial or almost complete replacement of fish oil in diets by different vegetal oil. This species shows compensatory growth in short term feed limitation periods and the best feeding method in an on-growing stage is at least twice a day to satiety.