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Iranian Journal of Aquatic Animal Health 3(1) 82-89 2017
82
Evaluation of growth and survival of Zebra fish, Danio rerio by
flake food that formulated with spirulina
A Bahmai1, M Ghaeni1, L Roomiani1
1Department of Fisheries, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran.
Abstract
Danio rerio is one of the most beautiful
ornamental fish living in fresh water and tropical
water having a lot of fans in our country. This
study aimed at investigating the effect of flaked
diet with spirulina microalga feeding on growth
and survival rates of Danio rerio in Mahshahr,
south of Iran in 2014. Three hundred and sixty
zebra fish have been purchased and were
randomly distributed among 12 aquariums,
which the first group or control have been
received commercial concentrated food (Energy
co.), the 2nd group were fed basal diet enriched
with 4% Spirulina. The 3rd group received
enriched food with 12% of the same supplement
diet and and finally, the 4th group was designed
for 25% of Spirulina.
Correspondence M Ghaeni, Department of Fisheries
Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran
(e-mail: mansorehghaeni@gmail.com)
The highest levels of condition factor and
specific growth ratio were calculated for 4.394±
0.35 and 0.92 ±0.004, respectively. In addition,
the lowest levels of daily feeding consumption
and feed conversion ratio of 0. 35 ±0.035 and
0.037±0.01 were respectively obtained. In
general, the inclusion of spirulina powder in
feeding level of this fish would lead to gaining
weight. Furthermore, the increase of spirulina
microalga powder would affect the feed
conversion ratio in its feeding level within a
raising period of 60 days. Since there is no
significant difference between 12 and 25% of
the basal diet, it is concluded that the best
feeding level is the basal diet enriched with4%
spirulina.
Keywords: spirulina, flake, Danio rerio, feeding
level, growth, survival
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A Bahmai, The effect of Spirulina on growth of Zebra fish
83
Introduction
The zebra fish, Danio rerio, is a small fish from
the minnow family (Cyprinidae) with vibrantly
colored horizontal stripes and was first described
by the British surgeon Francis Hamilton
(Hamilton 1822). Conveniently for
developmental biology and geneticis, zebra fish
have transparent and externally developing
embryos and an essentially complete vertebrate
body by 24 hours of development (though the
embryonic/early larval pigment pattern is not
fully formed for several more days). It has
crucial model organism in genetics and
developmental biology (Grunwald & Eisen
2002). Its reproduction stage is short and shows
a single spawning with hundreds of offspring
(Detrich, Westerfield & Zon 1999).
Subsequently, the larvae metamorphose quickly
into juveniles, and reproductive maturity can be
attained in as little as six weeks. Adult zebra fish
are easy to care for and breed and their
reproduction is essentially a seasonal in the
laboratory. Moreover, large numbers of embryos
(50–300) can be obtained from females at
intervals of as little as two weeks (Parichy 2006;
Quigley and Parichy 2002; Clark, Hennig,
Herwig, Cifton, Marra, Lehrach, Johnson &
Group 2001; Vogel 2000).The Zebra danio is
small-bodied, elongate, and without defensive
morphology such as fin spines, making it
vulnerable to a wide array of predators (Hill and
Kapuscinski & Pavlowich 2011).
Spirulina is a cyanobacterium that has
been commercially cultivated for many years
due to its high nutritional content; e.g. protein,
amino acid, vitamin, minerals, essential fatty
acid and b- carotene (Vonshak 1997). It can be
considered as a nutritional supplement that has
various health benefits for humans, and a feed
supplement for animals having economic
benefits. As an example, it can be a suitable food
supplement when fed to trout, sea bass, fancy
carp, red tilapia, shrimp and mollusk. It has been
found that the alga can be used as an alternative
source of protein and can also be used to
improve the color, flavor and quality of meat.
Nowadays, Spirulina can be used to establish
immune-potentiating functions in carp
(Watanuki, Ota, Malin, Tassakka, Kato & Sakai
2006; Tongsiri, Mang-Amphan & Yuwadee
2010).
This study was designed to evaluate the
use of enriched food by spirulina powder in
practical diets for zebra Fish In Terms of
Growth and Survival.
Materials and Methods
Three hundred and sixty zebra fish have been
perched and were randomly divided in 12
aquariums and dedicated in the laboratory in
Mahshahr: the first group or control have been
received concentrated food called Energy in the
market, the 2nd group received enriched food
with 4% Spirulina. The 3rd group that received
enriched food with 12% of the same supplement
and the 4th group received enriched food with
25% of Spirulina, A feeding regime of 3% body
weight per day was employed throughout the
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Iranian Journal of Aquatic Animal Health
84
trail. The amount of food was calculated and
readjusted weekly according to change in the
body weight and distributed in three equal
portions for 60 days.
Data calculation
Body weight gain (g/fish) = Mean of weight (g)
at the end of the experimental period – weight
(g) at the beginning of the experimental period.
Specific Growth Rate (SGR) was calculated as
the difference between the wet weight at the
beginning of the experiment and on the day of
sampling as
Where lnWto and lnWt1 are the natural
logarithm of weights of the fish at the beginning
and end of each sampling period and t1 is the
period between samplings in days.
Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was calculated by
related feed consumption to gain in weight of
fish. 𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑑𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜=Feed intake
(g)/Weight Gain (g)
The mean body weight (g) was calculated by
dividing total wet weight of the fish in the
aquarium by the number of fish in the aquarium.
Statistical analysis of data
Statistical analysis was performed using the
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) two-way
classification and Duncan’s multiple Range
Test, to determine differences between
treatments means at significance rate of P <
0.05. The standard errors of treatment means
were also estimated. All statistics were carried
out using Statistical Analysis System (SAS)
program.
Results
Body weight
Body weight indices were increased and
between treatments were significantly different
in zebra fish (P<0.05).There was no significant
difference between treatments 12% and 25 %
(P> 0.05).The highest and the lowest of this
indices obtained in 25% (683.673±59.96) and
control (310.713±41.55), respectively (Table 1).
Table 1 The average percentage of body weight gain in zebra fish
(Danio rerio) during the study period of 60 days fed a
formulated food Spirulina
During 60 days
The average weight (%)
Control
310.713±41.55a
T1: 4% spirulina
683.673±59.96c
T2: 12% spirulina
680.101±68.14c
T3: 25% spirulina
548.979±41.55b
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A Bahmai, The effect of Spirulina on growth of Zebra fish
85
Specific growth rate
The highest specific growth rate was shown in
treatment 12% (0.092±0.004) and the lowest
indicator was in control on 60th day (0.022 ±
0.001), respectively. Between treatments were
no significant differences on 20th, 40th and 60th
day (p>0.05) (table 2).
Table 2 Average specific growth rate in zebra fish (Danio rerio) during the period of 60 days
fed a formulated food Spirulina
Average specific growth
rate
20th day
40th day
60th day
Control
0.045 ±0.003a
0.029± 0.0002a
0.022± 0.0001a
4%
0.090±0.004c
0.048± 0.0001b
0.033± 0.0001a
12%
0.092± 0.004c
0.049± 0.0001b
0.034± 0.0001a
25%
0.079± 0.003a
0.044± 0.0003b
0.033± 0.0001a
Different letters in each column indicate significant differences (p<0.05).
Conditional factor
The highest conditional factor was in 4%
spirulina on 20th day (4.394±0.035) and the
lowest was in 12% spirulina on 60thday (1.077%
±0.018). The average of conditional factor was
no significant difference on 20th, 40th and 60th
day (p>0.05) (table 3).
Table 3 The average of conditional factor in zebra fish (Danio rerio) during the period of
60 days fed a formulated food Spirulina
Conditional factor
20th day
40th day
60th day
Control
3.805 ±0.028a
2.342± 0.019a
3.093± 0.015a
4%
2.520±0.018a
1.951± 0.014b
1.077± 0.018b
12%
3.275± 0.012a
2.135± 0.022ab
1.241± 0.014a
25%
4.394± 0.035a
3.332± 0.011a
2.259± 0.011a
Different letters in each column indicate significant differences (p<0.05)
Food Conservation Ratio (FCR)
The highest food conservation ratio (FCR) was
in control group on 20th day (0.162±0.01) and
the lowest was in 4% Spirulina on this day
(0.037±0.01). Between treatments were
significant differences on 20th, 40th and 60th day
(p<0.05) but between treatment 12% spirulina
and control on 40th day and 60th day were no
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Iranian Journal of Aquatic Animal Health
86
significant differences (table 4). The results of
this study were shown, using of different percent
of Spirulina had no effect on survival rate
(p>0.05).
Table 4 The food conservation ratio in zebra fish (Danio rerio) during the period of 60 days
fed a formulated food Spirulina
Conditional factor
20th day
40th day
60th day
Control
0.162 ±0.01 a
0.086± 0.05a
0.086± 0.02a
4%
0.095±0.03d
0.132± 0.04c
0.136± 0.01c
12%
0.056± 0.02c
0.081± 0.05a
0.082± 0.05a
25%
0.037± 0.01b
0.038± 0.02b
0.040± 0.05b
Different letters in each column indicate significant differences (p<0.05).
Discussion
The present study showed that dietary
supplementation with flake food that formulated
with spirulina affected the feeding and growth
parameters in Danio rerio. These results may
possibly due to the improved feed intake and
nutrient digestibility. Moreover, Spirulina
contains several nutrients especially vitamins
and minerals that may promote fish growth.
According to growth performance in the present
study considered to be T1 (4% Spirulina diet)
was the best feed for the Danio rerio as the
weight gain (683.673±59.96) and specific
growth rate 0.034± 0.0001 were increased with
the concentration of Spirulina. FCR decreases
up to 0.040± 0.05 in T3 (25% Spirulina).
The highest levels of condition factor
and specific growth ratio of 4.394± 0.35 and
0.92 ±0.004 were respectively obtained. In
addition, the lowest levels of daily feeding
consumption and feed conversion ratio of 0. 35
±0.035 and 0.037±0.01 were respectively
obtained. In general, the inclusion of spirulina
powder in feeding level of this fish would lead
to this fish gaining weight. Smith (1981)found
that the effect of Spirulina in the diet enhanced
feed intake and growth in Red swordtail,
Xiphophorus helleri. Ezhil, Jeyanthi, &
Narayanan (2008) mentioned that the feed
supplemented with Spirulina powder improved
the feed conversion ratio and growth of rainbow
trout. Ungsethaphand, Peerapornpisal,
Whangehai and Sardsud (2010) reported that
maximum survivability (91.11%) in hybrid red
tilapia fed on 20% Spirulina . Scaria,
Kumuthakalavalli and Xavier (2000) notified
that the ornamental guppy and platy (X.
maculates) consumed more feed inclusing
Spirulina than other mushrooms and Azolla.
Because, it is rich in proteins, vitamins, essential
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A Bahmai, The effect of Spirulina on growth of Zebra fish
87
amino acids and fatty acids, Spirulina has been
identified as a potential protein source for fish
feed. In addition, this study found that the
optimum rate of Spirulina in the fish practical
diet is 30% or 300g/kg additives in feeds.
The present study suggests, up to 12%
of Spirulina diet can be substituted in a
formulated flake diet for zebra fish will not
produce any adverse effects on fish growth and
survival rate. In addition Spirulina promotes the
growth and survival rate of the fish. Further the
incorporated fishmeal can be reduced by the
substitution of Spirulina in diet for culture of
most ornamental fish species.
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Danio rerio
±
±FCR±±
FCR
mansorehghaeni@gmail.com
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