Effect of Dietary Inorganic and Chelated Trace Mineral Supplementation on the Growth Performance and Skeletal Deformities of European Seabass and Senegalese Sole Post-larvae

Abstract

Trace elements such as Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn are essential minerals in fish diets, especially important at early larval stages. The chemical speciation of these elements directly influences their uptake efficiency and metabolic utilization. In order to optimize the form of trace elements incorporated into larval feed, two experiments were conducted using two commercial fish species, European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis), and two chemical forms (inorganic and glycinate chelates). Several fish performance parameters were measured, as well as bone status parameters to assess which form of mineral results in optimal fish biological performance. European seabass and Senegalese sole post-larvae were unresponsive (P > 0.05) to dietary treatments in terms of dry weight (DW), standard length (SL), relative growth rate (RGR) or feed conversion rates (FCR) when fed diets supplemented with chelated over inorganic trace minerals. This study suggests that replacing dietary inorganic mineral supplementation by their organic glycinate-chelated forms brings no beneficial effects on somatic growth and bone development in Senegalese sole and European seabass post-larvae fed high-quality commercial microdiets. Additionally, we show that mineral leaching from diets can be significant, but the use of chelated minerals can potentially mitigate this leaching phenomenon. Therefore, the selection of the dietary mineral form should take into account not only their economic value, but also their biological effect and environmental impact. Data generated in this trial provides new knowledge in trace mineral nutrition of early-stage marine fish.

Keywords: Bone status; Chelates; Dicentrarchus labrax; Marine fish larvae; Nutrition; Solea senegalensis; Trace minerals.