Potential Value Of A Short Horned Grasshopper (Oxya Fuscovittata) As
A High Protein Alternative Diet For Black Molly (Poecilia Sphenops)
 

Arijit Ganguly, Hena Anand, Mousumi Das, Dipak K.Mandal, Parimalendu Haldar^*
Department of Zoology, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, West-Bengal, (INDIA)

A feeding trial was conducted for 183 days to evaluate the nutritive value of O.fuscovittata as a possible protein source in diets for juvenile black molly Poecilia sphenops. All the calculated growth parameters were compared with three commonly available market feed of various crude protein levels (i.e. about 52% for tubifex, 46% for high protein spirulina and 32% for low protein spirulina). Proximate analysis revealed that protein percentage and energy content were highest in O.fuscovittata and tubifex respectively, whereas protein to energy (P/E) ratio was the most in O.fuscovittata followed by high protein spirulina (HPS). Low protein spirulina (LPS) contained the maximum amount of carbohydrate and nitrogen free extract (NFE). After feeding experiments it was observed that variations in survival percentage and all the growth parameters were not significant among the individuals fed with given diets. It is already known that O. fuscovittata can yield huge biomass in laboratory, and the present study revealed its nutritional potential as a high protein alternative feed source for fishes. These results are encouraging because if acridid farms are established, they may supply a huge amount of grasshoppers to the livestock feed industry to formulate low cost but high protein feed that will help lowering down the cost and thus the ornamental fish industry will be more viable worldwide.