A Review of Advances in Nutrition Research towards Commercial Aquaculture of Pompanos, Trachinotus spp.

ABSTRACT Among the jack family (Carangidae), pompanos, Trachinotus spp., are the most farmed globally. The top four most aquacultured species are golden pompano, T. ovatus , snubnose pompano, T. blochii , Indian pompano, T. mookalee , and Florida pompano, T. carolinus . While initial efforts to culture these species heavily relied on wild‐caught small fish of various species (commonly referred to as ‘trash fish’) for growout, pompanos can readily accept and thrive on formulated pelleted feeds. This has largely been accomplished through decades of nutritional research where marine‐based ingredients can be feasibly replaced with plant and animal‐based protein mixtures as long as essential amino acids, including taurine, and long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids meet their nutritional requirements. Obstacles still exist, including relatively poor feed efficiency, despite having a high digestibility of various ingredients, along with major research gaps in pompano nutrition and feed management of late juveniles to near‐market sized adults. Additionally, nutritional research on vitamin requirements as well as “functional feeds” and “finishing diets” designed for pompano is also relatively limited. After briefly describing the research history and production of the four most commonly farmed Trachinotus species, the main focus will be on discussing the feasibility of using alternatives to marine‐based ingredients, the influence of different starch sources, vitamin/mineral requirements, the success of “functional feeds” and the effectiveness of different feed management strategies in pompano aquaculture.