Effects of betaine on the growth of the fish piauçu, Leporinus macrocephalus

In this study was tested the effect of betaine on the growth performance of the piauçu fish. For this, twenty-one fish (mean ± SD: body weight: 14.9 ± 1.3 g) were randomly distributed in one out of three experimental treatments (n = 7 each; 1 fish/aquarium): without betaine add...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Edivaldo Bento Normandes, Rodrigo Egydio Barreto, Robson Francisco Carvalho, Helton Carlos Delicio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instituto de Tecnologia do Paraná (Tecpar) 2006-09-01
Series:Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-89132006000600010
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Summary:In this study was tested the effect of betaine on the growth performance of the piauçu fish. For this, twenty-one fish (mean &plusmn; SD: body weight: 14.9 &plusmn; 1.3 g) were randomly distributed in one out of three experimental treatments (n = 7 each; 1 fish/aquarium): without betaine added in the food (control); 3.6 g betaine/Kg of food; 7.1 g betaine/Kg of food. The fish were exposed to experimental conditions for 60 days. Fish presented significant growth throughout experimentation, but no statistically significant difference was found for any parameter analyzed among the treatments, except for condition factor, which was higher in control group than betaine ones. Accordingly, it was concluded that betaine had no enhancing effect on growth of piauçu.<br>Testamos o efeito da betaína na performance de crescimento do peixe piauçu. Para tal, 21 espécimes (média &plusmn; DP: peso corpóreo: 14,9 &plusmn; 1,3 g) foram distribuídos aleatoriamente em um entre três tratamentos (n = 7 cada; 1 peixe/aquário): ração sem acréscimo de betaína (controle), 3,6 g betaína/Kg de ração, 7,1 g betaína/Kg de ração. Os peixes foram submetidos às condições experimentais por 60 dias. Os peixes apresentaram crescimento estatisticamente significativo ao longo do experimento, porém nenhuma diferença estatística foi encontrada para qualquer parâmetro analisado, exceto para o fator de condição o qual foi maior no grupo controle do que nos grupos tratados com betaína. De acordo com isso, concluímos que a betaína não melhora o crescimento do piauçu.
ISSN:1516-8913
1678-4324