Dietary protein requirement of juvenile triangular bream Megalobrama terminalis (Richardson, 1846)

A 10‐week feeding trial was conducted to determine the dietary protein requirement of juvenile triangular bream (Megalobrama terminalis). Five semi‐purified diets (white fishmeal as a protein source) were formulated with five crude protein (CP) levels (26.30%, 32.94%, 38.33%, 44.18% and 50.09%; diets P1–P5). Each diet was fed to triplicate groups (20 per fish replicate, initially weighing 1.30 ± 0.02 g). The following parameters were measured to evaluate the effects of different CP levels: weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), feed efficiency (FE), protein efficiency ratio (PER), daily feed intake (DFI), viscerosomatic index (VSI), hepatosomatic index (HSI), intraperitoneal fat ratio (IPF), lipid retention (LR), liver glycogen content and plasma triglyceride level. The results of the feeding trial showed that WG, SGR and FE were significantly enhanced by an increasing dietary protein level of up to 44.18%, but there were no significant differences in protein levels from 44.18% to 50.09%. The PER and DFI showed a decreasing trend with increasing dietary CP levels. The VSI and HSI were not significantly affected by the different treatments, whereas the IPF increased significantly with decreasing CP levels. The highest LR value, liver glycogen value and triglyceride level in plasma were observed in fish fed the lowest CP diet (P1). Based on the WG and FE, this study suggests an optimum dietary protein level for M. terminalis of 44.18%.