Pigmentation of Cultured Striped Jack Reared on Diets Supplemented with the Blue-Green Alga Spirulina maxima.

Pigmentation of cultured striped jack Caranx delicatissimus was attempted by feeding diets supplemented with a commercial spray-dried preparation of the blue-green alga Spirulina maxima which is abundant in zeaxanthin.The integumentary color of the fish reared on diets containing the alga at 5% or 10% became irridescent greenish gray at the back with a characteristic yellow band near the lateral line, whereas those reared on the control diet or frozen sardine exhibited dark gray.Analysis of the integuments revealed that contents of carotenoids were 0.28-1.50mg/100gat the dorsal part and 0.14-0.48mg/100gat the ventral one, being higher in the fish reared on the diets containing the alga.More than 95% of the carotenoids in the dorsal integuments were composed of three yellow ones, tunaxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin, and all of them increased by supplementation of S. maxima.