FISHERIES RESEARCH INSTITUTE,MOA,TAIWAN

Juvenile black porgy (Acanthopagrus schlegeli) were fed for 12 weeks on three test diets and one reference diet to investigate the effect of dietary pantothenate on growth, the survival rate, and gill disease. The test diet contained three levels (0, 50, and 150 mg/kg) of supplemental calcium D-pantothenate, and the reference diet contained 50 mg/kg of pantoyltaurine as an antagonist. The results showed enhanced growth and survival, but with no external pathologies in black porgy fed the diets supplemented with pantothenate. Fish fed on the pantothenate-free or the reference diets exhibited growth retardation, high mortality rates, hemorrhagic skin, fin erosion, and gill lamellar hyperplasia; however, no fused filled filaments were observed. Gills with lamellar hyperplasia slightly recovered, and no mortality was observed in pantothenate-deficient fish fed the diet with 50 mg calcium D-pantothenate/kg. Gills with lamellar hyperplasia slightly recovered, and no mortality was observed in fish fed the diet with 50 mg calcium D-pantothenate/kg.