Impacts of taurine supplementation on diets for silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen)

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of taurine supplementation in the diet on zootechnical performance, body composition, nutrient deposition, metabolic parameters and digestive enzyme activity of juvenile silver catfish. An experiment was conducted with duration of 54 days, using 320 animals (5 g), fed with isoenergetic and isoprotein diets, differing in the levels of taurine supplementation (0, 0.5, 1.5 or 2% of the diet). The experimental design was completely randomized, with four treatments and four replications. At the end of the period, the fish were fasted and biometrics were performed to collect data and tissues for further evaluation. Taurine supplementation (1.5 and 2.0%) negatively affected growth parameters and protein efficiency, reduced protein deposition, protein retention coefficient and body deposition fat (2.0%). Fish that received the diet containing 0.5% taurine had higher levels of liver protein, while ammonia was higher in fish that received 2.0% taurine. It is concluded that taurine supplementation is not essential for silver catfish juveniles in the studied weight range.