Effects of replacing fish meal with soybean meal, with or without dietary arginine, on growth performance, immune indices and intestinal morphology of grouper, Epinephelus malabaricus

A 10‐week feeding experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of replacing fish meal with soybean meal (SBM), with or without dietary arginine (Arg), on growth performance, immune indices and intestinal morphology of grouper, Epinephelus malabaricus. Nine experimental diets were formulated to contain 20%, 30% and 40% fish meal protein (FMP) replaced using SBM and 0, 0.5% and 1% dietary Arg supplementation. The results showed that weight gain (WG) of fish was significantly affected by the interaction of substitution level and Arg supplemental level. The maximum WG occurred at the 30% FMP substitution level and the 0.5% Arg supplemental level. The immune assay showed that the interaction between the two levels significantly influenced the production of serum nitric oxide but did not affect serum IgG concentration and alkaline phosphatase activity or the liver IGF‐1 gene expression. Significant interaction effects between the two levels were observed in muscle layer thickness (tML) and fold height (hF) in the proximal and mid‐intestine. High SBM level in diets reduced the tML and hF in the entire intestine. The results suggested that the interaction of 30% FMP substitution level and Arg supplemental level of 0.5% most benefitted growth performance, immune indices and intestinal structure of grouper.