Egg and whole-body amino acid profile of African bonytongue (Heterotis niloticus) with an estimation of their dietary indispensable amino acids requirements.

African bonytongue, Heterotis niloticus, is a river fish from the Central and West Africa basin. The species presents a great potential for fish farming and has been increasingly raised in Central and South Cameroon. The total amino acid and proximate composition of the whole body of egg, larva, juvenile, immature, and adult Heterotis were determined. Ash, moisture, whole-body protein, and lipid contents were significantly affected by size (P < 0.05). On the other hand, the amino acid composition of the whole-body tissue, when expressed as a percentage of dietary protein, was not significantly different among ontogenetic stages (ranging from 0.2 to 400 g mean body mass). The amino acid composition of the eggs was quite different to the one of whole-body tissue with lower levels of methionine, proline, and glycine, and higher levels of arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, threonine, valine, serine, and alanine. The A/E ratios of adult Heterotis muscle tissue are similar to those obtained for other fish species, except for histidine and tryptophan. Based on whole-body or muscle tissue indispensable amino acids (IAA) to A/E ratios, the IAA requirement profiles for Heterotis (from larva to adult) were estimated and are similar to those of other omnivorous fish species, except for tryptophan and histidine.