The objective of this work was to evaluate body composition as well as nutrient efficiency use by pacus fed on diet supplemented with chromium at two stocking densities. The experimental design was completely randomized with 24 treatments, in factorial scheme: four levels of chromium in the diet (0, 6, 12, and 18 mg kg-1), two stocking densities (4 and 20 kg m-3) and three periods (30, 60 and 90 days). Increases in efficiency of crude protein retention and in percentage of crude protein and decrease in efficiency of fat retention and smaller values of fat percentage in the carcass were observed. In the smallest density, the level of 6 mg kg-1 of chromium was enough to make possible the higher accumulation of protein and smaller fat concentration in the carcass. In the density of 20 kg m-3, the need of chromium was higher, 12 mg kg-1, to obtain similar results. Pacus fed on diet supplement with chromium present lean meat, with smaller fat concentration, until 60 days of experiment.
Piaractus mesopotamicus; stocking density; protein deposition; fat level
