Effects of Dietary Vitamin C on Growth, Caudal Fin Development, and Tolerance of Aquaculture-Related Stressors in Channel Catfish

The effects of dietary vitamin C on growth, caudal fin development, and stress tolerance of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) were investigated by feeding fry diets containing either 0, 78, or 390 mg vitamin C/kg feed for 120 d. Channel catfish fed a vitamin C-free diet grew less, had a higher incidence of caudal fin malformation, exhibited a lower tolerance of ammonia, and died of hypoxia at higher dissolved oxygen levels than the fish fed the diets containing medium or high levels of vitamin C. Fish fed either of the diets with vitamin C exhibited similar growth, caudal fin development, and tolerance of stressors. Dietary vitamin C had no observable effect on the tolerance of any treatment group for stress induced by confinement in a net for up to 10 d.