The objective of this work was to evaluate suplemenation of vitamin C during feed training of giant trahira fingerlings. An experiment was established in a complete random design with seven treatments (0.0, 17.5, 52.5, 87.5, 122.5, 175.0 and 350.0 mg vitamin C/kg diet) and four repetitions. Giant trahira fingerlings (2.8 ± 0.2 cm) were distributed in 6-L aquaria at the density of 6 fish/L. A basal diet was formulated with 44.0% of crude protein and vitamin C and bovine heart were added in it daily. After 20 days, biometry of fish for evaluation of weight and length gains, rates of survival and cannibalism and uniformity of final length and for macroscopic observations of clinical signs of deficiency or excess of vitamin was carried out. After biometry evaluation, ten fish from each tested diet were collected for analysis of the fatty acid profile which was compared to profile of fish at the same life stage fed forage fish collected from breeding fishponds. Data on growth performance and fatty acid profiles were submitted to analyses of polynomial regression and uniformity of the final length was evaluated by the Bartlett test. There was a significant difference only for uniformity in final length and fatty acid profile of the carcass. Supplementation with 52.5 mg vitamin C/kg diet provided a greater uniformity of the final length of the fish. Fish from breeding fishponds presented lower concentration of PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) and higher concentration of saturated fatty acids compared to fish trained to accept dry diets.
cannibalism; carnivorous fish; Hoplias lacerdae; length uniformity; lipid profile
