Advances in the feeding and nutrition of
tropical gar Atractosteus tropicus
Carlos Alfonso Alvarez Gonzalez*, Gabriel Márquez Couturier*,
Wilfrido Contreras Sánchez*, Ulises Hernandez Vidal*, Arlette
Hernandez Franyutti*, Roberto Mendoza Alfaro**, Carlos Aguilera
González**, Tsai García Galano***, Roberto Civera Cerecedo****
Ernesto Goytortua Bores ****.
Email: alvarez_alfonso@hotmail.com
UANL** CIBNOR**** UH***
Total length: 120 cm. Weight 12 Kg.
Oportunistic carnivorous
Geographical distribution
Fisheries in Tabasco
Prehispanic culture
Traditional cook
Use as artisanal issues
For aquarium
Commercial size: >45 cm. Weight: 500 g
Price: $ 3 to $15 US/Kg
Tons
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Production
Producción
of tropical
por
captura de
gar in Tabasco
pejelagarto
80`s
90`s
2001 2006
Research areas carried out with Tropical gar
Atractosteus tropicus in Mexico
• AREA 1. REPRODUCTION
• AREA 2. NUTRITION AND FEEDING
• AREA 3. EXPERIMENTAL CULTURE
• AREA 4. TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
Hormonal induction
0.35 mg/Kg. aLH-RH; 0.2 ml/Kg. Ovaprim
Natural spawn and embryonic development
Aquaculture Laboratory at DACBIOL-UJAT
3 mm. diameter
Embryonic development (36 to 48 h, 30° C)
Yolk sac larvae (Total length; 7.5 mm.)
Feeding fase
Egg:
Hatch
Embryos
Larvae
Endogenous
0-4 DAH
Post larvae
5-8 DAH
Endoexogenous
No return critical point: 96 h
Juveniles
9-15 DHA
Exogenous
Digestive tract development
Yolk-sac larvae 0 - DAH.
Mouth closed
Hepatic section
Indifferentiated
digestive tube
2 DAH Pancreas and
intestine
differentiation
Mouth opening
4 DAH
Almost
ready
10 DAH
Digestive enzymes
Each treatment by triplicate (N=21)
10 larvae /L (n= 1000).
First 10 days larvae were feed with
Artemia nauplii, then with trout food
Silver Cup (45% protein and 16% lipids)
Digestive tract were dissected
and send to UANL
Proteolytic activity
Alkaline protease
PROTEASAS ALCALINAS TOTALES
0.020
0.010
0.005
0.000
Acid protease
TRAT AV
TRAT I
PROTEASAS ACIDAS TOTALES
0.12
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0.10
DDE
0.08
D Abs/min/larva
D Abs/min/larva
0.015
0.06
0.04
0.02
TRAT AV
TRAT I
0.00
-0.02
0
5
10
15
20
DDE
25
30
35
40
Studies on larval feeding
Artemia nauplii
 Cladocerans
 Insects
 Small fish
High cost and variable availability
Are only temporal food
Problems with public health
High quantities
 Carnivorous, micro-crustaceans
consumption.
Evaluation of different live foods
Growth
Treatments
TL (mm)
Weight
(g)
Survival
(%)
Daphnia (100 %)
26.1
d
0.067
d
85
Artemia nauplii (100 %)
30.7
a
0.129
a
93
Mix 1 (Daphnia 80 %) Artemia (20 %)
29.1
b
0.120
b
89
Mix 2 (Daphnia 50 %) Artemia (50 %)
28.5
c
0.101
c
96
Mix 3 (Daphnia 20 % ) Artemia (80 % )
29.7
ab
0.125
a
90
Feeding frecuency
Treatments
Inicial weight
(g)
Final weight
(g)
Growth rate
(%/d)
Weight gain
(g)
F1
0.32
3.59b
3.27b
0.11
F2
0.32
3.64b
3.32b
0.11
F3
0.32
4.21a
3.89a
0.13
F4
0.32
4.22a
3.90a
0.13
F5
0.32
4.59a
4.27a
0.14
F6
0.32
4.51a
4.19a
0.14
Initial stocking density
Treatmens
Total length
(mm)
Weight
(mg)
Survival
(%)
1 larvae/L
36.9
0.183
93.3
5 larvae/L
37.8
0.190
93.3
10 larvae/L
37.6
0.181
94.6
15 larvae/L
37.7
0.187
93.1
20 larvae/L
37.9
0.185
93.6
30 larvae/L
36.7
0.183
94.7
40 larvae/L
37.5
0.183
95.6
Evaluation of Artemia biomass
Days
TREATMENT
Nauplii (control)
Artemia Biomass
50%Nauplii / 50%
Artemia Biomass
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
0.30
50
a
Talla (mm)
0.25
0.20
Peso (gr)
(g)
Weight
a
a
0.15
0.10
a
a
40
Longitud
Total(cm)
(mm)
Total length
a
30
20
10
0.05
0.00
0
N
BAC
N/BAC
N
BAC
N/BAC
Treatments
Tratamiento
Treatments
Tratamiento
Talla (LT)
Talla (LT)
Talla (LT)
Treatmens
Survival
(%)
Cannibalism
(%)
SGR
(%/day)
N
86.56 (±9.97) a
0.31 (±0.62) a
15.32 a
BAC
86.87 (±8.19) a
2.81 (±3.28) a
14.35 a
N/BAC
94.06 (±6.07) a
2.18 (±1.57) a
15.19 a
Evaluation of freeze Artemia
Biomass
Days
Treatments
Nauplii (control)
1 Artemia Biomass
2 Artemia Biomass
3 Artemia Biomass
4 Artemia Biomass
5 Artemia Biomass
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
0.30
50
ab
abc
c
bc
bc
0.20
Peso (gr)
(g)
Weight
bc
bc
0.15
0.10
2 BAC
3 BAC
bc
cd
40
Longitud
Total (mm)
(cm)
Total length
0.25
ab
a
a
30
20
10
0.05
0.00
0
N
1 BAC
2 BAC
3 BAC
4 BAC
5 BAC
Treatments
Tratamiento
N
1 BAC
4 BAC
5 BAC
Treatments
Tratamiento
Treatments
Survival
(%)
Cannibalism
(%)
SGR
(%/day)
N
86.56 (±9.37) a
0.31 (±0.62) a
15.32 a
1BAC
90.62 (±4.62) a
0.93 (±1.19) a
15.48 a
2 BAC
92.81 (±5.80) a
1.25 (±1.02) a
14.64 a
3 BAC
85.62 (±8.32) a
3.43 (±1.57) a
14.29 a
4 BAC
86.56 (±8.74) a
3.12 (±1.61) a
14.25 a
5 BAC
85.9 (±4.82) a
2.5 (±1.02) a
14.54 a
Adaptation to artificial trout food
6
140
a
a
120
5
c
3
c
d
e
1
Longitud
(cm)
length(mm)
Total
4
Peso (g)
(g)
Weight
a
b
b
2
a
100
c
d
e
d
80
60
40
20
0
0
AV
AT0
AT6
AT11
AT16
AT21
AT26
AV
AT0
AT6
AT11
AT16
AT21
AT26
100
a
a
Survival (%)
Supervivencia (%)
80
a
a
a
AT16
AT21
AT26
a
b
60
40
20
0
AV
AT0
AT6
AT11
Evaluation of commercial diets in juveniles
Trout food
(SILVER CUP)
Protein/Lipids
(%)
1
Trout 1(SCR)
45/10
2
Trout 2 (SCE)
38/10
3
Trout 3 (SCA)
45/16
Weight (g)
Total length (cm)
Treatments
Time (days)
Time (days)
SCR: 45% P, 10% L
SCE: 38% P, 10% L
SCA: 45% P, 16% L
INDEXES
SCR
Survival (%)
Final biomass (g)
Weight gain (%)
Condition factor
SGR (%/day)
Protein gain
FCR
PER
Daily protein gain
SCE
SCA
95.0 ± 1.7 96.7 ± 2.9 98.0 ± 1.7
563 ± 24
653 ± 44
860 ± 62
93.9 ± 0.4b 94.4 ± 0.2b 95.7 ± 0.6ª
0.34 ± 0.01 0.34 ± 0.02 0.40 ± 0.02
6.2 ± 0.1b 6.4 ± 0.1b 7.0 ± 0.3ª
0.12 ± 0.01b 0.14 ± 0.01b 0.19 ± 0.01ª
1.77 ± 0.08b 1.53 ± 0.10b 1.16 ± 0.10ª
1.26 ± 0.10b 1.73 ± 0.12b 2.0 ± 0.14ª
933 ± 17b 802 ± 23b 963 ± 17ª
Protein and Energy requirements in
juveniles (0.7 and 7 g)
PROTEIN
(%)
ENERGY
(Kcal./100 g diet)
20
30
40
50
60
300
400
Bi-factorial design 5x2
Semi-purified diets (Casein base diets)
Experimental diets
PROTEIN (%)
Ingredients
20
20
30
30
40
40
50
50
60
60
Fish meal
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
Casein
300
300
524
524
748
748
970
970
1194
1194
Potato starch
390
564
320
500
250
424
76
154
104
208
Soybean oil
156
230
128
200
100
172
72
144
42
84
Fish oil
156
230
128
200
100
172
72
144
42
84
Vitamin Premix
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
Mineral Premix
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
Vitamin C
10.8
10.8
10.8
10.8
10.8
10.8
10.8
10.8
10.8
10.8
Betain
0.08
0.08
0.08
0.08
0.08
0.08
0.08
0.08
0.08
0.08
Cellulose Carboxymethyl
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
Celullose
729
407
631
307
533
215
541
319
349
161
Energy (Kcal/100 g
diet)
300
400
300
400
300
400
300
400
300
400
Mean Plot (Spreadsheet3 in Base datos para curv a prot-energ pejes chicos 10v *835
c)
Mean Plot (Spreadsheet11 in Curv a base datos P_E pejes grandes 10v *100c)
Mean; Whisker: Mean-.95*SE, Mean+.95*SE
Mean; Whisker: Mean-.95*SE, Mean+.95*SE
300cal Mean = -1.726+0.4635*x-0.0038*x^2
400cal Mean = -21.6486+1.4984*x-0.0148*x^2
300cal Mean = -6.4379+1.6882*x-0.0203*x^2
400cal Mean = 7.8169+0.9843*x-0.0106*x^2
Interaction protein
Interaction protein
and energy (0.7 g)
and energy (7 g)
18
36
16
34
32
14
Weight (g)
12
10
Peso (g)
Peso(g)
Weight (g)
30
8
6
28
26
24
22
20
4
18
2
20
30
40
50
60
300cal
400cal
Protein
Proteina (%)
Best growth was obtained with
51% protein and 400 Kcal/100g
diet
16
20
30
40
50
60
Proteina (%)
Protein
Best growth was obtained with
42% protein and 400 Kcal/100g
diet
300cal
400cal
Lipid requirement in juveniles (5 g)
INGREDIENTS
INGREDIENTES
Caseina
Casein
Harina
demeal
sorgo
Sorghum
Fish
Fish oil
oil from menhaden
Lecitina
soya
Soybeande
lecithin
Harina
de sardina
Fish meal
Cellulose carboxymethyl
Carboximetil
celulosa
L-LisineHCL
L-lisina
Vitamin premix
Premezcla
de Vitaminas
Mineral premix
Minerales
L-Methionine
L-Metionina
Vitamin CC
Vitamina
BHT
BHT
NUTRIENTS
NUTRIENTES
Proteina
cruda
Crude protein
Lipids etereo
Extracto
Fiber cruda
Fibra
Ashes
Cenizas
NFE
E.L.N.
5%
44.57
38.00
2.02
1.00
10.00
3.00
0.50
0.25
0.15
0.50
0.05
0.004
10%
45.13
32.15
5.81
2.50
10.00
3.00
0.50
0.25
0.15
0.50
0.05
0.004
15%
45.69
26.30
9.60
4.00
10.00
3.00
0.50
0.25
0.15
0.50
0.05
0.004
20%
46.25
20.39
12.95
6.00
10.00
3.00
0.50
0.25
0.15
0.50
0.05
0.004
45.00
5.00
3.58
3.17
42.95
45.00
10.00
3.49
3.41
38.10
45.00
15.00
3.41
3.34
33.25
45.00
20.00
3.32
3.27
28.41
Total length (cm)
Weight (g)
Lipid (%)
INDEXES
Lipid (%)
Lipid (%)
5
10
15
20
64.5 ± 2.5c
89.1 ± 1.4ª
74.2 ± 2.2b
73.7 ± 1.8b
306 ± 20
484 ± 30
375 ± 83
375 ± 57
93 ± 5
100 ± 0
97 ± 6
100 ± 0
1.22 ± 0.09ª
0.81 ± 0.01b
1.00 ± 0.17ªb
0.97 ± 0.13ªb
2.6 ± 0.2
3.2 ± 0.1
2.8 ± 0.3
2.8 ± 0.2
LDI
0.055 ± 0.004b
0.111 ± 0.015ª b
0.148 ± 0.009ª b
0.206 ± 0.017ª
LER
16.4 ± 1.2ª
12.4 ± 0.2ª b
6.8 ± 1.2ª b
5.2 ± 0.7b
Final weight (g)
WG (%)
Survival (%)
FCR
SGR (%/day)
Evaluation of practical diets in juveniles (0.6 and 7 g)
Diet 1: 100% Fish meal.
Diet 2: 100% Pork meal.
Diet 3. Commercial Trout food (45% Protein, 16% Lipids).
First experiment:
45% Protein and 15% Lipid.
Each diet was tested by triplicate with 30 fish per tank.
Initial size: 0.70 ± 0.05 g.
Second experiment:
40% Protein and 10% Lipids.
Each diet was tested by triplicate with 10 fish per tank.
Initial size: 5.10 ± 0.20 g.
First experiment
35
Peso (g)
(g)
Weight
34
a
33
ab
32
31
b
30
29
28
sD
Fi
D
rk
o
P
WG
%
FisD
29.4b
PorkD
SCD
200
a
199
ab
198
197
196
195
b
194
193
D
SC
Final
weight
Diet
Longitud
Total(cm)
(mm)
Total length
201
sD
Fi
D
SC
D
rk
o
P
FCR
Survival
(%)
SGR
4020.5
0.7
97.8
6.65
0.40 1.05 4.31ab
33.0a
4499.4
0.6
94.4
6.87
0.42 1.02
4.73a
31.1ab
4111.0
0.6
90.0
6.74
0.40 1.03
3.52b
CF
DFI
PER
Second experiment
64
Longitud
total(cm)
(mm)
Total length
a
62
Peso(g)
(g)
Weight
60
58
b
56
54
52
50
c
48
46
sD
Fi
kD
r
Po
D
SC
Diet
Final
weight
WG
%
FisD
49.8c
PorkD
SCD
a
250
248
246
244
242
240
238
236
234
232
230
b
c
sD
Fi
D
rk
o
P
D
SC
FCR
Survival
(%)
SGR
856.8
1.2
93
4.03b
0.39 1.34 2.64ab
60.9a
1059.5
1.1
82
4.38a
0.41 1.30
3.27ª
56.0b
972.9
1.1
96
4.24ab 0.39 1.29
2.43b
CF
DFI
PER
Technology transfer
Los Pochitoques, Ejido Río Playa, Comalcalco.
120,000 juveniles production per year
Otot Ibam ®. Comalcalco
50,000 juveniles production per
year
Sociedad Cooperativa Boca de Chilapa, Centla.
55,000 juveniles production per year
12,000 juveniles were culture
in floating net cages to
produce 8 ton
Geo-membranes, Macuspana.
3,000 juveniles
Research laboratory in the
Universidad de Artes y Ciencia de
Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutierrez.
2,300 juveniles produced last year
Transfer to the Biosphere Reserve “La
Encrucijada”, Acapetahua, Chiapas.
Laboratory in the Ejido Rio
Arriba, Acapetahua, Chiapas.
15,000 juveniles
production capacity
Geo-membranes, Ejido La
Lauras, Acapetahua, Chiapas.
900 juveniles were cultured
Thanks
We invite you to the next meeting
in September, at the Universidad
Nacional de Costa Rica
INTERNARIONAL NETWORK ON LEPISOSTEID SPECIALIST
We are not primitives…...……… we are persistent