Evaluating different diets on the growth performance of mud crab (Scylla serrata)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the potential of natural feeds for the sustainable grow-out aquaculture of mud crabs as an alternative to commercially available mud crab feeds. This study employed a completely randomized design that includes five feed treatments including trash fish, African land snail, horn snail, edible frog, and mud snail. There were three replicates for each treatment with three cages each located in a concrete tank with an area of 12m2. Each cage contained one lean crab. The crabs were fed twice a day, at 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. with an amount adjusted to 7% of the crab's body weight. After the first 21 days, all the crabs were harvested by draining out the tank water and the pincers of the crab were tied with a string to enable handling. The results showed that the highest growth performance in weight gain and condition factor was seen in African land snail feed with a feed conversion ratio of 1.38, indicating a high-quality feed. It also showed an impressive ROI of 96.8% which can be confirmed that this kind of feed might be a viable mud crab feed for both commercial scale and industry.