Replacement of fish oil with Schizochytrium meal and its impacts on the growth and lipid metabolism of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

A 12‐week experiment was conducted to evaluate replacing fish oil (FO) in Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) diets with algal meal (Schizochytrium sp. [AM]) and vegetable oils (VO: linseed oil [L] and soybean oil [S]). For this purpose, 15 aquaria (110‐L each) were arranged in an indoor rack recirculating saltwater system (salinity, 27–28 ppt) and a 2,000‐L mechanical and biological propeller‐washed bead filtration system. Juvenile shrimp (initial weight, 3.15 ± 0.01 g) were randomized into five groups of three replicates and fed one of five iso‐nitrogenous (400 g/kg crude protein) and iso‐lipidic (100 g/kg lipid) diets such as control (50 g/kg FO), FO‐AM0 (80 g/kg FO), FS‐AM1 (40 g/kg FO + 20 g/kg VO + 28.8 g/kg AM), FLS‐AM2 (20 g/kg FO + 20 g/kg VO + 58.7 g/kg AM) and LS‐AM3 (0 FO + 20 g/kg VO + 88.5 g/kg AM). No differences were found in most production performance parameters, except final body weight, which was significantly (p