Effect of genotype and protein source on performance of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

Shrimp farming is supported by fast-growth and high-resistance genotypes. Protein requirement is important for shrimp perfomance. Fishmeal is the main source, but their limited production increase feed formulation costs for aquaculture. This study evaluated the effect of genotype and protein source on performance of two shrimp genotypes. Shrimps with fast-growth (FG) and high-resistance (HR) were randomly assigned to two dietary treatments (animal and vegetal protein) in a 2 x 2 factorial design. A 36-day bioassay was realised in clear-water hyper-intensive system to compare FG and HR performance using three replicate tanks for each genotype and dietary treatment. Each tank was seeded with 10 shrimp with average initial weight of 2.03 +/- 0.10 g for FG genotype and 2.07 +/- 0.02 g for HR genotype, at a density of 250 shrimp/m(3). A weekly biometry was realised to monitor the shrimp performance. We observed a significant interaction (p < .05) between genotype and diet for shrimp growth performance. Compared with HR shrimp, FG shrimp showed higher growth and better feed efficiency. The maximum weight gain was recorded, FG shrimp was significantly higher than HR shrimp independently of protein source. Diet with different protein source significantly influence the performance of FG shrimp, while in HR shrimp there is no significant difference between dietary treatment. The comparison showed that genotype, diet and their interactions influenced the performance of Litopenaeus vannamei. This research may be useful for improving genetic selection programmes, reducing feed costs for shrimp industry and design-feeding strategies for shrimp genotypes.