Cedric J. Simon

• PhD
• Group Leader at The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Brisbane, Australia

The development of cost-effective and nutritionally adequate formulated feeds is a key step for developing sustainable technologies for new aquaculture species. There has been many research effort for over 30 years on feed development for spiny lobsters, but amazingly, poor performance of formulated feeds remains one of the major obstacles to progr...

The nutritional condition of cultured Sagmariasus verreauxi juveniles over the molt and during starvation was investigated by studying their metabolism, bioenergetics of nutrient reserves, and hemolymph biochemistry. Juveniles were shown to downregulate standard metabolic rate by as much as 52% within 14 d during starvation. Hepatopancreas (HP) lip...

Simple Summary The shrimp sector has been one of the fastest-growing agri-food systems in the last 10 years. To overcome the increasing market demand, the transition to the intensification of shrimp farming is a reality in many countries. In addition, the desire to mitigate the risks posed by pathogens has driven many farmers to preference more con...

Accurate measurement of apparent digestibility (AD) is essential to characterise the nutritive value of ingredients in aquaculture. For crustaceans, current methods rely on collection of excreted faeces by settlement. Excreted faeces lose soluble nutrients through leaching, leading to an over-estimation of AD. An alternative approach is to remove f...

P. monodon juveniles were fed krill meal (KM), krill hydrolysate (KH), whole squid (SQ), and the microbial biomass, Novacq™ (NQ), at 10% inclusion, in practical fishmeal and soybean meal based diets. Diets were fed to apparent satiation as well as restrictively pair-fed (~60% of control diet satiation) for 6 weeks to examine the effects of the test...

To sustain the expanding volume of aquaculture production, there is significant demand for an affordable supply of energy and nutrients to aquatic species. High-quality feed is essential to ensure the productivity, sustainability and economic viability of aquaculture systems. Over the past 30-40 years, extrusion technology has emerged as an efficie...

A study was conducted to test the inclusion of Aurantiochytrium sp. meal in the rearing of Penaeus vannamei grown in a clear water system and at a suboptimal temperature of 22 °C. The doses tested were 0 (control), 1, 2, 3, and 4% at a stocking density of 100 shrimp/m³. Rearing was carried out with aeration and individual heaters, and seawater temp...

Microbial-based ingredients are gaining in popularity due to their nutritional value and functional properties. The microbial biomass Novacq™ (CA) and commercially produced NovaqPro™ produced in Australia (RA) and Thailand (RT) were assessed at various inclusion rates (2.5–15%) in a basal practical formulation as part of a dose-response study in P....

This review provides an outline of some of the challenges facing nutritionists in the Australian aquaculture industry. It commences with a brief description of how aquaculture nutrition differs from that for terrestrial livestock – the challenges of providing nutrition in aqueous environments, the diversity of species and the high trophic level of...

This study presents the results of a Meta-analysis of the efficacy of the feed additive Novacq in Pacific white shrimp, in a joint research effort between Viet-Uc and CSIRO. Results show that this commercial additive outperformed the control diet, with larger animals (an average of 4 grams) and 25 percent greater survival rates, and also bested a b...

Raw materials or bioactive ingredients trigger mechanisms to assimilate nutrients and activate metabolic pathways that promote growth, immune function, or energy storage. Our understanding of these processes at a molecular level remains limited in aquaculture, especially in shrimp. Here, hepatopancreas proteomics and haemolymph metabolomics were us...

Authors used cell-based in vitro assays to compare the immunogenic and anti-inflammatory capacity of whole and expeller-pressed black soldier fly organic insect meals to fishmeal, cricket powder and quercetin (a plant-derived anti-inflammatory)

An experiment was conducted to assess the effect of fish size on losses of crude protein and amino acids during a period of fasting in barramundi (Lates calcarifer). Fifteen fish within six size classes (10.5 ± 0.23 g; 19.2 ± 0.19 g; 28.3 ± 0.08 g; 122.4 ± 0.17 g; 217.6 ± 0.62 g; 443.7 ± 2.56 g) were housed in triplicate 600 L tanks, provided with...

This review summarises the current knowledge of mineral nutrition for penaeid shrimp. It investigates how the aquatic environment and the lifecycle of shrimp affect requirements and the role that minerals play in shrimp health. Methods of supplying minerals via either water or to feed, and novel ways of supplementing minerals within feed, are discu...

During sample collection and transport, high‐quality nucleic acids, proteins and metabolites are preserved by snap‐freezing (SF) samples in liquid nitrogen or dry ice. In remote aquaculture facilities, SF materials are not readily available and can be hazardous during sampling and transport. RNAlater is widely used in aquaculture for transcriptome...

During sample collection and transport, high-quality nucleic acids, proteins and metabolites are preserved by snap-freezing (SF) samples in liquid nitrogen or dry ice. In remote aquaculture facilities, SF materials are not readily available and can be hazardous during sampling and transport. RNAlater is widely used in aquaculture for transcriptome...

The apparent digestibility (AD) of dietary nutrients is an essential criterion used to improve nutrition in aquaculture. We assessed whether Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) can assist in streamlining the process by predicting directly diet AD or the composition of diets and/or faecal nutrients and digestibility marker (yttrium oxide) concentratio...

Astaxanthin (Axn) is the most commonly used carotenoid to enhance the flesh colouration of salmonids, which is one of the key criteria perceived to reflect the freshness and nutritional quality of the product and consequently affecting its price. However, the digestibility of astaxanthin by salmonids is highly variable, ranging between 20% and 60%....

An increasing world population, rising affluence, urbanization, and changing eating habits are all contributing to the diversification of protein production. Protein is a building block of life and is an essential part of a healthy diet, providing amino acids for growth and repair. The challenges and opportunities for production of protein-rich foo...

Soybean meal has been largely investigated and commercially used in fish nutrition. However, its inclusion levels have been carefully considered due to the presence of antinutritional factors, which depending on a series of factors might induce gut inflammation damaging the mucosal integrity and causing enteritis. Several strategies including genet...

Pulses have emerged as important rotation crops in Australia. Some are in demand in agricultural production systems due to their high potential market value, because of their roles as grain or forage crops, their nitrogen fixation capability, and because they provide a disease break or improve soil health. While several pulse crops have been identi...

Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) caused by pathogenic isolates of Vibrio parahaemolyticus (VPAHPND) carrying a plasmid encoding two pir-like toxins, is one of the most serious diseases affecting shrimp aquaculture. This study investigated if the microbial feed ingredient “Novacq™” improves resilience of Penaeus vannamei to VPAHPND in...

Ensuring aquafeeds meet the expected nutritional and physical specifications for a species is paramount in research and for the industry. This study aimed to examine the feasibility of predicting the proximate composition and starch gelatinisation (or cook) of aquaculture feeds (aquafeeds) regardless of their intended target species by near infrare...

Simple Summary While success has been achieved with replacing fishmeal entirely in diets for whiteleg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei, giant tiger prawn Penaeus monodon still requires fishmeal for optimum culture performance. Crystalline amino acid (CAA) supplementation is becoming popular in shrimp feed formulation and is needed in low fishmeal diets...

This comprehensive survey of the scienti􀂦c literature on macronutrient research in aquaculture nutrition between 1990 and 2020 showed the importance of jointly considering protein, lipids and carbohydrates in aquafeed formulations.

In shrimp aquaculture, manufactured diets that include various supplements and alternative fishmeal ingredients are increasingly being used and their effect on the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota studied. However, dietary effects on different shrimp GI samples are not known. We investigated how a high (HFM) or low (LFM) fishmeal diet affects bacte...

Aquaculture production can be improved by understanding how ingredients can affect feed intake and digestion. This is an area poorly understood for many aquaculture species, including for the shrimp Penaeus monodon. To investigate these processes, we measured feed intake, the rate at which digesta moves through the gastro-intestinal tract, the chan...

Simple Summary Knowledge of mineral requirements enables diets to be better formulated. Mineral requirements of black tiger prawns (Penaeus monodon) are not well known compared with other cultured prawn species. To close this knowledge gap, the importance of providing additional sources of twelve minerals in prawn diets were assessed. These mineral...

Although Litopenaeus vannamei is the most produced and researched shrimp species worldwide, there are no published studies evaluating the use of the microbial biomass, Novacq™, in L. vannamei feeds. This study investigated the effects of supplementing Novacq™ at 100 g kg−1 in practical and commercial feeds in postlarvae 12 (PL 12) and juvenile whit...

To date, there is no information whether this commercial additive supports similar results in culture conditions dominated by heterotrophic organisms, compared to the clear- and green-water conditions tested in prior studies. Here we present results of a study to provide initial insights on the effects of Novacq™ in different culture conditions (do...

Organic acids and their salts have been used in commercial aquafeeds as an alternative to antibiotics, growth promoters and their effect on performance and survival continue to be investigated in aquatic organisms including shrimp with a few reports on Penaeus monodon. We assessed production performance and nutrient retention efficiency of juvenile...

Replacement of fish oil by 5% thraustochytrid whole cell biomass in diets for Atlantic salmon had no ill effect on fish growth performance, carcass total lipid and total fatty acid content. Carcass fatty acid composition indicated incorporation of the dietary thraustochytrid-derived fatty acids. This was confirmed by compound specific stable isotop...

The use of microbial biomass meal in commercial diets for Penaeid prawns (Litopenaeus vannamei, Penaeus monodon) has been highlighted as a promising strategy to improve growth, health and sustainability. A variety of refined ingredients from microbial origin is currently available worldwide and used as feed additives (e.g., probiotic, prebiotics, i...

The use of microbial biomass as a complimentary ingredient or feed additive has been highlighted as a promising strategy to promote growth and health of Penaeid prawns (Litopenaeus vannamei and Penaeus monodon) and sustainability of aquafeeds (Burford et al., 2004; Kuhn et al., 2008, 2009; Glencross et al., 2013, 2014, 2015; Arnold et al., 2016; Qi...

Limited availability of fish oils (FO), rich in omega-3 long-chain (≥C 20 ) polyunsaturated fatty acids (FA), is a major constraint for further growth of the aquaculture industry. Long-chain omega-3 rich oils from crops genetically modified with algal genes are promising new sources for the industry. This project studied the use of a newly develope...

The present study was conducted to determine the digestible choline requirement of juvenile yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi; YTK) in the presence of 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP), an inhibitor of choline biosynthesis. The second aim of this study was to determine if choline supplementation of a practical diet made from common raw materials...

Abstract Worldwide tilapia production is rapidly growing and becoming increasingly reliant on the provision of cost-effective sustainable formulated feeds. We assessed the capacity for various inclusion rates of the microbial biomass-based ingredient Novacq™ (0%, 2.5%, 5%, 10%) at the expense of wheat flour to improve growth performance in diets at...

Crustaceans are exposed to a range of environmental factors that can impact their condition, physiological function and growth. Condition indices are broadly defined as the extent to which stored nutrient reserves allow normal physiological function and growth, but can also represent more than nutrition alone. There is currently no reliable indicat...

Two experiments were conducted on juvenile barramundi testing the replacement of regular poultry by-product meal (PBM) with a premium grade poultry protein concentrate (PPC). In the first experiment, a series of five iso-nitrogenous and iso-calorific dietary treatments composed of incrementally increasing levels of PPC from 0% to 20%, substituting...

A range of inert digestibility markers, such as yttrium(Y) and ytterbium (Yb) oxides, are used to indirectly calculate the digestibility of nutrients in aquafeeds. Gross over-estimations of nutrient digestibility can be encountered if several assumptions are not met, including that nutrients move through the digestive system at the same rate as the...

There is a critical knowledge gap regarding the impacts of seismic air gun signals on the physiology of adult crustaceans. We conducted four controlled field experiments to examine the impact of seismic acoustic signals on spiny lobster, Jasus edwardsii. Seismic air gun exposure suppressed total haemocyte count (THC) for up to 120days post-exposure...

The spiny lobster Sagmariasus verreauxi is an emerging lobster species for intensive aquaculture. The lack of any nutritional information required for feed development in this species initiated this study to understand the effect of different dietary lipid sources on tissue lipid profiles and expression of selected lipid metabolising genes. Krill o...

We examined the effects of temperature on the growth, feeding, nutritional condition and aerobic metabolism of juvenile spiny lobster, Sagmariasus verreauxi, in order to determine if temperature acclimated aerobic scope correlates with optimum for growth and to establish the thermal tolerance window for this emerging aquaculture species. Juvenile l...

The southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) industry in Australia favours red lobsters, which are usually caught in shallow waters, over paler (brindle) lobsters. This preference is driven partly by the Chinese market, where red is associated with luck and prosperity, and additionally, by the widely held perception within the industry that brindles...

Average risk of dying and associated standard errors per site. (DOCX)

Relationship between haemolymph pH and lactate (mmol L-1). (DOCX)

Rapid non-invasive monitoring of spiny lobster nutritional condition has considerable application in the established fishery, live market and prospective aquaculture. The aim of this research was to test the feasibility of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a novel non-invasive tool to assess the nutritional condition of three lobster species. Lo...

Dataset containing all biological and FT-NIR data underlying our findings. (XLSX)

Mortality events during live transport of Jasus edwardsii rock lobsters are common around the time of season openings in Tasmania, with lobsters from deeper fishing areas with pale shell colouration (brindle) being perceived as more susceptible than shallow-water, red-coloured (red) lobsters. The aims of this study were to assess and predict the vu...

The Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), established in 2010, comprises the University of Tasmania's internationally recognised expertise across the full spectrum of temperate marine, Southern Ocean and Antarctic research and education.

The Southern rock lobster, Jasus edwardsii, is a temperate species of spiny lobster with established well managed fisheries in Australia and New Zealand. It has also been under consideration as a species with aquaculture potential. Agonistic behaviour has important consequences under aquaculture conditions that encompass direct effects, such as dam...

The inclusion of dietary carbohydrates has the potential to deliver more cost-effective formulated diets for spiny lobsters, however, the effect of carbohydrates on feeding and glucose metabolism is poorly understood. Poor appetite revival for lobster fed on formulated diets has been identified as a major factor reducing growth rates of the spiny l...

Mass propagation of spiny lobster phyllosoma is a critical bottleneck for the development of spiny lobster aquaculture. Eastern spiny lobster Sagmariasus verreauxi has been identified as a good candidate for temperate culture with a relatively short life cycle lasting 6 to 8 months and 17 stages. We investigated the development and functionality of...

The digestive gland of crustacean is involved in various metabolic activities, including the synthesis and secretion of digestive enzymes that begin the process of food digestion, intracellular digestion and absorption of nutrients, storage of reserves, and disposal of waste products. It consists of two glandular lobes which extensively subdivide t...

The digestive gland of crustacean is involved in various metabolic activities, including the synthesis and secretion of digestive enzymes that begin the process of food digestion, intracellular digestion and absorption of nutrients, storage of reserves, and disposal of waste products. It consists of two glandular lobes which extensively subdivide t...

The effect of various carbohydrate sources (glucose, sucrose, agar, wheat, tapioca, maize, potato and dextrin), and inclusion levels of gelatinized maize starch (0, 70, 170, 270 g kg−1), incorporated in semi-purified diets on the performance [growth, survival, food consumption (FC), enzyme activity and glycogen content of the digestive gland (DG)]...

The development of cost-effective and digestible formulated diets is essential for the commercialisation of spiny lobster aquaculture. Large juvenile spiny lobsters, Jasus edwardsii (115 g), were used to measure the apparent digestibility of formulated diets with six different carbohydrate sources, three levels of gelatinised starch, three types of...

A better understanding of the nutritional requirements and digestive processes are essential for improving the consumption and growth of spiny lobsters on formulated diets used in commercial culture. Differences in the enzymatic digestive response (i.e., post-prandial changes in digestive enzyme activity, digestive fluid pH and digestive gland stru...

Carbohydrates are a key ingredient in crustacean formulated diets because of their potential to greatly improve production efficiency. For the culture of spiny lobsters where daily food intake is limited, carbohydrates have the potential for delivering a low cost source of energy that could spare protein for growth. Therefore, the digestibility of...

Limited food consumption has been identified as a possible reason for the poor growth in spiny lobsters raised on dry formulated diets. Food intake was determined for different sized juveniles (20–80 g) of the spiny lobster, Jasus edwardsii, fed either fresh mussel flesh or a dry formulated diet for 0.5–5.0 h every 48 h. In addition, the foregut ca...

Low feed consumption has been suggested as a major impediment for the development of effective formulated diets for spiny lobsters. To seek an explanation for the low feed consumption, this study compared the feed consumption, appetite revival, foregut evacuation and fecal production of different sizes of spiny lobster Jasus edwardsii juveniles fed...

This study evaluated the growth and survival of lobster juveniles over 8 months when fed fresh Perna canaliculus mussel and stocked at a density of 35 ind. m− 2 in one of three holding systems: a prototype sea-cage design, a commercial sea-cage design, and small experimental land-based holding tanks. At the same time the growth, survival and nutrit...

The development of cost-effective culture systems such as sea-cages and nutritionally adequate formulated diets for juveniles is of major importance to the advance of commercial spiny lobster aquaculture. Formulated diets have the potential to improve production performance, but to date fresh mussels have consistently produced better growth than fo...