Fish Nutrition and Health
What is fish
• A fish is an aquatic vertebrate with gills, limbs (if
present) in the form of fins, and usually with a skin
covered with scales of dermal origin.
• Fishes do not form a monophyletic group.
• The common ancestor of fishes is also an ancestor of
land vertebrates
• With over 31,000 living species,
• Fish include more species than all other vertebrates
combined.
• They are adapted to live in a medium 800 times more
dense than air.
• They can adjust to the salt and water balance of
their environment.
• Their gills are efficient at extracting oxygen from
water that has 1/20th the oxygen of air.
• A lateral line system detects water currents and
vibrations, a sense of “distant touch.”
• Evolution in an aquatic environment both shaped and
constrained its evolution.
• “Fish” refers to one or more individuals of one
species; “fishes” refers to more than one species.
• Out of 9 living classes of vertebrates 5 are fishes
• Out of 64000 animal species ½ are fishes
Some salient physiological and
Nutritional features of fishes
• Modes of Respiration
• Lungs of lungfishes allow them to respire from air.
• Eels can wriggle over land during rainy weather; they
use skin as their major respiratory surface.
• A bowfin uses gills at cooler temperatures and its
lung-like swim bladder at higher temperatures.
• The electric eel has degenerate gills and gulps air
through its vascular mouth cavity.
• The Indian climbing perch spends most of its time on
land, breathing air in special chambers.
Osmotic Regulation
• Freshwater fishes have far less salt than is in fish
blood; water tends to enter the body of the fish and
salt is lost by diffusion.
• The scaled and mucous-covered body is mostly
impermeable, but gills allow water and salt fluxes.
• The opisthonephric kidney( is the adult kidney of
anamniotes - such as the shark and mud puppy - and
develops from all or most of the nephric ridge
posterior to the pro-nephros).
• Metanephric kidney is the adult kidney of amniotes -
the pigeon, cat and rabbit - and develops from a small
posterior part of the nephric ridge) pumps excess
water out.
• Special salt-absorbing cells located in epithelium actively
move salt ions from the water to the fishes’ blood, hence
freshwater fishes are called hyperosmotic regulators
• These systems are efficient;
• a freshwater fish devotes little energy to keeping osmotic
balance.
• About 90% of bony fishes are restricted to either
freshwater or seawater habitats.
• Euryhaline fishes live in estuaries where salinity
fluctuates throughout the day.
Marine bony fishes are hypo-osmotic
regulators.
• Marine fishes have a much lower blood salt
concentration than in the seawater around them.
• Therefore they tend to lose water and gain salt; the
marine fish risks “drying out.”
• To compensate for water loss, a marine teleost drinks
seawater; this brings in more unneeded salt.
• Unneeded salt is carried by the blood to the gills and
secreted by special salt-secretory cells.
• Divalent ions of magnesium, sulfate and calcium are
left in the intestine and leave the body with the feces
or enter the bloodstream and are excreted by the
kidney.
• Marine fish excrete divalent ions by tubular secretion;
glomeruli are small or they are absent or missing.
Fig. 24.29
Osmoregulation in fishes
Feeding Behavior
• Fish devote most of their time searching for food to
eat
• With the evolution of jaws, fish left a passive filter-
feeding life and entered a predator-prey battle.
• Most fish are carnivores that feed on zooplankton,
insect larvae and other aquatic animals.
• Most fish do not chew food since it would block water
flow across the gills.
– Most swallow food whole; this is easy with water
pressure that sweeps food in when the mouth opens.
Feeding Behavior
• Some fish are herbivores and eat plants and algae;
they are crucial intermediates in the food chain.
• Suspension feeders are a third group, and crop the
abundant microorganisms of the sea.
• Many of the plankton feeders swim in large schools
and use the gill rakers to strain food.
• Omnivores can feed on both plant and animal food.
• Scavengers feed on organic debris.
• Parasitic fishes suck the body fluids of other fishes.
Types of Environments determines fish
feeding behavior
• Marine, brackish and freshwater fish
Differences in osmotic cost to maintain homeostasis
• Coldwater and warm water fish
Differences in O2 content in water, plus availability of
natural food in ponds compared to trout raceways or
marine net-pens, metabolic rate and temperature
tolerances, membrane fluidity that influences fatty
acid requirements
• Fish and crustaceans (shrimp, crabs)
Huge differences in mechanisms of locating feed
Shrimp are external masticators, fish gulp feed
Differences are present in digestive physiology
Feeds must be water-stable for slow eaters like shrimp
Fish vs. livestock and poultry
• Major differences associated with aquatic existence
– Fish maintain neutral buoyancy and do not need
skeletal and muscular systems to oppose gravity
– Fish excrete ammonia
– Fish are cold-blooded
• Other differences
– Fish exhibit indeterminate growth
– Huge differences in digestive system among
farmed fish
• Fish are monogastric, but…
–Gastric stomached fish (carnivores like
salmon/trout)
–Agastric (carp)
Fish vs. livestock and poultry:
differences associated with aquatic
existence
• Fish exist in neutral gravity, no need for heavy
skeleton
– Dietary calcium and phosphorus needs are lower
– Energy expenditures for locomotion are lower
• Fish excrete ammonia via the gills
– Lower metabolic cost than excreting urea or
uric acid
– Higher caloric energy yield from metabolism of
amino acids
• Fish are cold-blooded
– Upside: no need to stay warm
– Downside: rates of metabolism, digestion, etc.
decrease in cooler water, plus membrane fluidity
must change
Fish vs. livestock and poultry:
differences in physiology
• Many fish exhibit indeterminate growth
– Growth continues after first maturation and
spawning
– Hypertrophy and hyperplasia (make new muscle
cells)
• Fish are monogastric (few herbivorous fish)
– Some fish have an acid stomach
– Other start with an acid stomach, then lose it as
fingerlings
– Some are stomach-less (agastric)
Fish vs. livestock and poultry:
differences at start of exogenous feeding
• Some fish spawn large eggs
Salmon & trout (2000-15,000 eggs/female)Incubation
requires 50-100 days depending on water temperature
First feeding fry are 200-400 mg and can be fed
small, particulate feed
Many fish spawn very small eggs
Most marine species (> 1 million small eggs per female)
Incubation requires 3-7 days
First feeding fry are very small and must be fed live-
feed through metamorphosis or until a decent size
Fish vs. livestock and poultry:
other nutritional differences
It is very challenging to provide adequate nutrition via
live feed, Right live feed at the right time
Correct nutritional content of live prey ( need PUFA
enrichment)
• Fish nutritional requirements
– Ascorbic acid
– Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)
– Many minerals obtained via the water
• Carnivorous species have a limited ability to utilize or
metabolize starch
– They evolved using protein and lipid for metabolic
energy
Efficiency of fish compared to
livestock
• FCR values less than 1.0 for fish
• FCR values 1.6-1.8 for chickens
• FCR values 8-10 for cattle
• Yield of high-quality protein from salmonids is 55%
• Total yield from poultry or cattle is lower and quality
varies with cut portion
• That is why fish is preferred over other animals
• It is not only better converter but also produces good
quality nutrition for human beings
• Nonetheless when we talk about its own feeding 50-
60% expenditure goes to fish nutrition and feeding
Feeding and Nutrition in fish
Prepared vs Live Feeds
• Different nutrients like protein, lipids,
carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals come from
feeds
• Fish food/ feed is of two types;
• Natural: Comprises living organisms
• Artificial: Comprises inert feed particles
What is Nutrition?
• Nutrition: the provision of all indispensable nutrients in
adequate amounts to insure proper growth and
maintenance of body functions or
• Nutrition = the study of food.
• Food = any substance which contains nutrients.
• Nutrient = any substance which can be digested and
used by the body.
• There are six nutrients:
❖Proteins, Fats, Carbohydrates, Minerals, Vitamins,
and Water
➢Some more useful definitions
➢ Macronutrients = nutrients required in large amounts,
i.e. proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
➢ Micronutrients = nutrients required in small amounts,
i.e. minerals and vitamins.
➢ Composition: refers to the elements that make up the
nutrient and how they are arranged within the
nutrient.
➢ Classification: refers to the division into groups or
classes.
➢ Sources: refer to the foods which are the best
suppliers of the nutrient.
➢ Functions: refers to the uses of the nutrient in the
body.
• All the nutrients:
• involve various chemical reactions and physiological
transformations which convert foods into body
tissues and activities
• involve ingestion, digestion and absorption of various
nutrients
• transport into cells
• removal of unusable elements and waste products of
metabolism
History of Nutrition
• Lavoisier is generally credited as being the “father”
of nutrition
• Until the first quarter of 19th century, we thought
the nutritive value of food resided only in one
component
• Near the end of the 19th century research started to
focus primarily on the need for protein, lipids and
carbohydrates
• Minerals were considered important, but their
essentiality was unknown
History of Nutrition
• Tremendous expansion in the 20th Century with the
discovery of vitamins, role of amino acids, more
minerals
• The body is now known to need more than 40
nutrients for normal growth and maintenance
• What have been the reasons for these advances???
• Human nutritional/health problems
• Also, basic studies of the functioning of the animal/
organism supplemented research
History of Nutrition
• Example of historical nutritional research:
• Heifers (young cow) fed wheat-based diets produced
calves (young-ones) at lower rates than those fed
corn diets
• Assumption: something toxic in wheat
• Analysis: nothing toxic in tissues
• Reality: vitamin deficiency
• Scientific methods for formulating feeds were
inadequate
• Research diets were eventually simplified/purified
History of Nutrition
• First vitamin discovered in 1913 (Frederick Gowland Hopkins
found unknown factors present in milk that were not fats, proteins, or
carbohydrates, but were required to aid growth in rats)
• Pioneer nutritional work achieved primarily through
the use of animal subjects
• Same today, but with restrictions
• Rats were used to determine ➔ vitamins, amino acids,
minerals requirements
• Dogs used for determination of ➔ insulin, nicotinic
acid
• Guinea pigs used ➔ prevention of scurvy
• Chicks were used for determination of ➔ thiamin and
other vitamins
• Bacteria were used to determine ➔ growth factors,
nutrient function in metabolism
• Final answers must be derived from species studied
Nutrition Today
Animal nutrition today is multidisciplinary:
• Metabolism: physiologists, biochemists
• Vitamins: organic chemists
• Isotopes/chromatography: physicists
• Protein structure: molecular biochemists
• Breed variation: geneticists
• Vitamins/amino acids: microbiologists
• Additives/improved digestibility: food technologists
Nutrient Essentiality
• Essential nutrient: one that must be provided in the
diet in order to insure adequate growth and
maintenance, indispensable
• Nutrient categories: macro and micro
• macronutrients: protein, lipid, carbohydrate, etc.
• micronutrients: trace metals, vitamins
• important: molecular weight is not the basis, of the
requirement of any nutrient
• For macronutrients requirement level is e.g. in case of
• proteins: g/kg while in micronutrients like vitamins:
µg/kg
• large requirement doesn’t imply greater importance
(example: B12 in some fish 0.4 µg/day)
Role of Aquaculture in human food
• We already know that agriculture is barely keeping up
with world food demand and...
• Fisheries are being improperly managed to the point
of steady state
• Either we must quickly boost up agriculture
crops/food technology to all arable (agriculture) land
on Earth or food must be found from other sources
• One possible option is aquaculture.
Current Challenges/Problems
• For aquaculture to contribute more to the world’s food
supply, production must be intensified
• Higher yields must be achieved in ponds
• Better and more predictable natural sources of nutrition
and feeding (natural productivity) must be available (too
unpredictable)
• More crude feed materials used as supplements or
• Compounded feeds must provide all nutrients
• Compounded feeds can not be prepared until and unless we
determine and know the nutrient requirements of fishes at
various stages of their development
Determining nutrient requirements in
fish
• Feed semi-purified diet, adding back graded levels of
single essential nutrient
• measure response variables
– growth, feed conversion ratio, survival (1950’s)
– tissue nutrient levels, assuming that they plateau at
requirement level (1950’s through today)
– measure activity of enzymes that require essential nutrient
as co-factor (same assumption, 1980’s)
– measure excretion of nutrient or metabolites (1990’s)
– Nutrigenomics (study of effects of nutrients on gene
expression and single gene products in tissues)
Qualitative
dietary
arginine
requirement
(Halver)
Relationship between thiamin intake
and liver thiamin concentration
Criteria or method used to establish a
dietary vitamin requirement
• Response variable
– absence of deficiency sign (minimum level)
– tissue saturation or plasma level
– enzyme activity
• Statistical evaluation
– broken-line (Almquist plot)
– curve-fitting and models
• fit curves but are they biologically relevant?
• do we chose 95% or 100% response as requirement?
• Real-world environmental conditions
– crowding, water quality, pathogen load etc.
Ascorbic acid requirements of salmonids
Requirement* Comments
15-20 ppm Prevents deficiency signs
250-500 ppm Supports maximum wound
healing activity
1000-2500 ppm Supports maximum disease
resistance in laboratory
challenges
>2500 ppm Maximum tissue storage levels
and max. immune response
* When included in purified diet, with ideal conditions and no
oxidation of vitamin C
Dietary nutrient requirements:
Pioneering fish nutrition research
• Development of semi-purified diet (1953) that
supported normal growth
• Establishment of quantitative dietary
requirements of vitamins & amino acids (1960s)
–USFWS Western Fish Nutrition Laboratory
• John Halver & colleagues
• Pacific salmon were focus, hatchery support
• all work was conducted with fry & fingerlings
Nutrient requirements of salmonids
• Whatever environment or whatever fish species we are
culturing all species require following macro and
micronutrients in variable concentrations and
percentages
• Protein Ten essential amino acids
• Lipids Omega-3 fatty acids (1% of diet)
• Energy Supplied mainly from lipids and protein
and carbohydrates
• Vitamins 15 essential vitamins
• Minerals 10 minerals shown to be essential
• Carotenoid Needed for viable eggs
pigments
• NOTE: Other minerals are probably essential but can be
obtained from rearing water
Vitamin requirements of salmon and
growing chickens (IU or mg/kg dry diet)
Vitamin Salmon/trout Chickens
Vitamin A 2500 1500
Vitamin D 2400 200
Vitamin E 50 16
Vitamin K unknown 0.5
Thiamin 1 1.3
Riboflavin 7 3.6
Pyridoxine 6 3.0
Pantothenic acid 20 10
Niacin 10 11
Biotin 0.15 0.10
Folic acid 2 0.25
Vitamin B12 0.01 0.003
Ascorbic acid 50 not required
Choline 800 500
myo-Inositol 300 not required
Semi-purified diet for salmonids
Ingredient Percent in diet
Vitamin-free casein 40.0
Gelatin 8.0
Dextrin 10.0
Proximate
Wheat starch 10.0
category Percent
Carboxymethylcellulose 1.3
Alpha-cellulose 6.0 Moisture 28-30
Mineral mixture 4.0 Crude protein 34
Vitamin mixture 3.0 Fat 17
Amino acid mixture 2.0 Ash 5
Choline chloride (70% liquid) 0.3
Herring oil 17.0
Nutrient and energy requirements vary
with living environment
B-According to environment:
1-Warm water fish: Tilapia & Carp
2-Cold water fish: Rainbow trout
C-According to water:
1-Fresh-water fish
2-Marine fish
• AA’s, minerals stable with reference to heat,
moisture, oxidation
• Vitamins and lipids are not stable (affected by heat,
oxidation, light, moisture, etc.; store in cool area)
• 50% of ascorbic acid is lost in processing, half-life of
2-3 months in storage
Now we see what is
Natural food
– Algae
– Cell Size 4-8 microns
– Species
• Isochrysis galbana
• Chaetoceros gracilis
• Nannochloropsis sp.
• Chlorella sp.
• Pavlova lutheri
• There is little variation in culture methods
and chemical composition
Micro Algae Culture
• Requirements/procedure/protocol
• Culture Water
• Sterilization
• Nutrient Enrichment
• Inoculation
• Stock culture
• Cell Counts
• Harvest and Feeding
Culture Water
• Sources
– Seawater
– Saltwater wells
– Prepared seawater
• Salinity
– 26-32 ppt
– Or Freshwater
Sterilization
• Methods
• Heat Pasteurization in autoclave
• 80 C and cool naturally
• Sodium Hypochlorite (bleach)
• 0.5 ml/L (10 drops)
• Neutralize: with 10-15 ml sodium thiosulfate (248
g/L)
• Hydrochloric acid 0.2 ml/L (4 drops)
• Neutralize with Na2CO3 0.4-0.9 g/L
Nutrient Enrichment
Nutrients Conc.(mg/l
Seawater) – Alternate media
NaNO3 75 – Ammonium sulfate
100 g
NaH2PO4.H2O 5
– Single
Na2SiO3.9H2O 30
superphosphate 10
Na2C10H14O8N2.H2O 4.36 gm
(Na2EDTA)
– Urea 10 g/1000 L
(Ethylenediamine
tetraacetic acid)
CoCl2.6H2O 0.01
CuSO4.5H2O 0.01
FeCl3.6H2O 3.15
MnCl2.4H2O 0.18
Na2MoO4.2H2O 0.006
ZnSO4.7H2O 0.022
Thiamin HCl 0.1
Biotin 0.0005
B12 0.0005
Inoculation
• Culture vessels
• 1,000 ml flask
• 18.7 L (5 gal.)
Carboy (glass)
• 178 L (47 gal) Transparent Tank
• Add enough algae to give a
strong tint to the water
• Cell number 100,000-200,000
cells/ml
• Lighting
• Types
• Sunlight
• Fluorescent
• VHO(very high output)
fluorescent
• Metal halide
Cell Counts
• Peak Algae Density • Hemocytometer
– I. galbana – Count total in
• 10-12 million cells/ml centermost 1 mm
• 10-14 days – Multiply by 10,000
• 2 wk stability – Product = number/ml
– Thalassiosira pseudonana
• 4 million cells/ml
• 3 days
• 5 day stability
Motile cells should be killed
Harvesting and Feeding
• Algae Density • Larvae Density
– Wk 1 = 50,000 cells/ml – 5-10 larvae/ml
– Wk 2+ = 100,000 cells/ml
– Onset of spatting(further
development) = 200,000/ml
• Tank cleared in 24hrs
Liters to feed = (TD x V)/CD
TD = Target Density (1,000s/ml)
V = Volume of larval tank (thousands of L)
CD = Cell Density (millions/ml)
Harvesting and Feeding
• Batch feeding
–Total harvest occurs once or over several days
• Semi-Continuous
–Works well with diatoms
–Part of the algae remains in the vessel
–New media is added to replenish the algae removed
Zooplankton culture
Marine Rotifer
Brachionus plicatilis
• Culture
units/containers
– 40L plastic bags
– 40L cone-bottomed
tanks
• Temperature 27-
30 C
• Salinity 26 ppt
Marine/freshwater Fish Larval
Culture
• Relies on zooplankton
Rotifers
• Advantages
• Convenient
Laboratory
production
– 100 to 200+ µm size
– 2-3 week life span
– small size suitable
as first food
• Rotifers are
typical first
food in hatchery
– Feed on algae or
yeast
– Require enrichment
to balance their
nutritional profile
Artemia
• Feeding of older
larvae
Artemia Preparation
• Brine shrimp eggs/cysts are used globally as a food
for small fish.
• Eggs/cysts: dry cysts are dormant for years!!
• Cysts can be used unhatched, but it’s risky.
• Can kill small fish.
• Equipment
• A 3-gallon container with clear sides
• 1 pound of brine shrimp eggs
• 1 gallon of non-fragranced household bleach (5%
chlorine)
• Brine shrimp net or filter
• Saturated brine solution
• This process will decapsulate (remove shell):
leaving the unhatched baby brine shrimp protected
in a membrane.
• Besides making the harvest of the hatched brine
shrimp easier, this process also:
-sterilizes the eggs
-higher percentage of hatching
-feed unhatched eggs to fish
-decapsulated eggs can also be hatched later
(stored in the refrigerator)
Procedure
• Soak 1 pound of eggs in 1 gallon of fresh water for 1
hour gently aerating the eggs.
• After soaking, add 1 gallon of non-fragranced liquid
household bleach (5% chlorine) and reduce aeration.
• Wait till eggs turn orange.
• Strain contents through a brine shrimp net (or filter),
and rinse in fresh water.
• Store in saline solution for up to a month.
Copepods...
Artificial feeds
• Sometimes natural food is deficient in certain
essential nutrients, it especially happens when we
culture fish at higher stocking densities
• Sometimes they become deficient in quantity
required for fry/fingerlings/adults
• Sometimes source is contaminated and cause diseases
when fed to fish
• To avoid such happenings we use artificial feed
• There are variety of types and variety of shapes of
artificial feeds
Artificial feeds
• Pellets or flakes or mash
• Dry pellets are normally used (uniform nutrition.)
• Disadvantages: rapid sinking, unless extruded.
• Floating pellets are more safe in feeding and handling.
• Semi-moist pellets: soft, high quality.
• Disadvantage: expensive, difficult to store in bulk.
Prepared (artificial) Diets
Artificial diets may be either complete or supplemental
Complete diets supply all the nutrients
•Protein
•Carbohydrates
•Fats
•Vitamins
•Minerals
Commercial fish diets are Extruded (floating or buoyant)
•Extruded feeds are more expensive due to the higher
manufacturing costs
