Abstract
Study conducted to evaluate the impact of dietary incorporation of chitosan nanoparticles (CsNPs) bio-synthesis and Spirulina platensis on the growth performance and body composition of intensive cultured fingerling of black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) in addition to the effect of the diets on heavy metals concentrations in water of culture cages. Six diets were prepared to contain approximately 44% crude protein and 499 k cal./100 g diet and supplemented by S. platensis and chitosan as follow: T1: control, T2: 0.05% S. platensis, T3: 0.1% S. platensis, T4: 1 ml chitosan, T5: 1 ml chitosan and 0.05% S. platensis and T6: 1 ml chitosan and 0.1% S. platensis. Shrimp fingerlings (1.24 ± 0.01 g) were randomly distributed in 12 hapas at stocking density of 20 fingerlings for each. The hapas were divided into 6 replicate groups and placed in cages. Each group received a kind of the experimental diet twice daily at feeding rate of 5% shrimp biomass for 12 weeks. The results indicated that, the growth parameters; final body weight (FBW g), weight gain (WG g), specific growth rate (SGR%) and survival rate (SR%) were improved significantly all trials compared to the control group. The best values for these parameters were recorded in the group of T5 and T6 without significant differences between them. Shrimp body composition showed the highest protein and fat contents for the group of T5 and T6 with significant differences (P < 0.05) among all treatments. No significant differences were noted for the heavy metals concentrations between all treatments. In conclusion, the incorporation of chitosan nanoparticles (CsNPs) and S. platensis attained considerable improvement in growth performance of black tiger shrimp and further investigations are recommended to optimize the level of incorporation in the diets for shrimp species.