EFFECT OF FOOD PROCESSING ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF PACAMÃ FINGERLINGS (Lophiosilurus alexandri)

Resumo

Although pacamã (Lophiosilurus alexandri), a fish species native to Brazil, is suitable for farming, it has been little investigated. The present experiment evaluates the effect of food processing on the performance and survival rate of pacamã fingerlings. An experiment in a completely randomized design was carried out with 48 pacamã fingerlings aged 45 days and weighing 1.94 ± 0.01 g. Fingerlings were assigned to three treatments with four repetitions. Each aquarium containing four fingerlings was considered one experimental unit. Fingerlings were submitted to feed treatments with 47.5% crude protein processed in bran, micro-pellet, and moist forms. The average final weight and apparent feed conversion were significantly (P<0.01) affected by food processing. Pacamã fingerlings that fed on moist food performed the best, such that moist food rather than bran or micro-pellet forms is recommended.