Effects of different dietary lipid contents on growth and lipase activity of Eriocheir sinensis larvae

The effects of different dietary lipid content on the growth and lipase activity of Eriocheir sinensis larvae were studied in the paper. The results showed that the survival, metamorphic rate and weight gain of E. sinensis larvae at different stages of growth all varied significantly with lipid content (P<0.05). Further, the survival and metamorphosis rates were the highest during the larval phases Z₃ to Z₄, and the weight gain was the highest during the larval phases Z₅ to M. During the first 20 h after metamorphosis of every larval stage, the lipase activity increased over time at Z₁, Z₂, Z₃ and M and declined at Z₄ and Z₅, and was influenced significantly by lipid content (P<0.05). In addition, lipase activity at each larval stage began to respond to dietary lipid contents 4 h after the larvae were fed, and tended to be stable after 12 h. The diets with higher lipase activity and lower lipid content were selected to give the suitable recipe of lipid requirements at each larval stage. It was concluded that the suitable lipid requirements at Z₁, Z₂, Z₃, Z₄, Z₅ and M were 6%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 8% and 10%, respectively.