Growth of juvenile white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) fed different purified diets.

Two experiments were conducted to develop a purified diet suitable for studying nutritional requirements of juvenile white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus). In the first experiment, growth and survival rates of fish fed a purified diet (SPD) containing 50% casein:wheat gluten:egg white (6.2:3.0:0.8) and 8% refined soy lecithin were significantly (P less than 0.05) better than those fed a commercial nonpurified rainbow trout diet, a purified rainbow trout diet containing 50% casein:gelatin (7:3) or a purified catfish diet containing 34% spray-dried egg white. In the second experiment, fish fed SPD diet with or without cholesterol but with the same amount of lipid grew equally well. Fish fed SPD diet with lecithin grew significantly better than those fed SPD diet with its 8% lecithin replaced with an equal amount of an oil mixture. In both experiments, fish with good growth and survival rates also had significantly lower body moisture and higher protein and lipid contents than fish with poor growth and survival rates. Results suggest that the SPD diet with lecithin and without cholesterol (SPD-C) is a suitable purified diet for juvenile white sturgeon.