Role of dietary inclusion of Gracillaria arcuata extract on growth performance and biochemical responses in grey mullet, Mugil cephalus(Linnaeus 1758)

The present paper aims to investigate the effects of dietary inclusion of Gracillaria arcuata extract (GE) on growth performance and some blood biochemical parameters (Cholesterol (CHO), triglyceride (TG), total protein (TP) and glucose (GLU)) of the grey mullet, Mugil cephalus. Four experimental diets were prepared by adding GE at the concentration of 0, 5, 10 and 15 g kg−1diet (GE0, GE5, GE10 and GE15 respectively). Each diet was randomly allocated to triplicate groups of fish (n=10 in each tank) with an initial average weight of approximately 14.95g. After 60 days of feeding trial, fish fed with GE10 and GE15 diet showed a significant (P<0.05) increase in final weight (FW), food intake (VFI), weight gain (WG), protein efficiency ratio (PER), lipid efficiency ratio (LER) and specific growth rate (SGR) compared with control group. While, there were no significant difference in FW, WG and LER among fish fed with GE5 diet and fish fed GE0 diet (P>0.05). No significant difference, in survival rate, was no shown between all of experimental treatments (P>0.05). The highest serum total protein content was observed in fish fed with GE15 diet (P<0.05). Fish fed GE10 and GE15 diets had lower Glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol concentrations than did fish fed GE0 and GE5 diet (P<0.05). The results suggest that dietary inclusion of G. arcuata extract exerted positive effects on growth performance, feed utilization and biochemical responses in M. cephalus.