November | December 2009

Feature title: Rabbitfish - A herbivorous marine fish

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rabbitfish
Rabbitfish:
by Imad Patrick Saoud, Aquaculture and Aquatic Science, American University of Beirut
A herbivorous marine fish
Global production of fishmeal is not increasing, but demand for marine fish is. Therefore, we had better start
developing the technology to culture a marine herbivore!
S
iganids are herbivorous and
can potentially be grown
using diets without fishmeal
supplementation.
They are a relatively small family of her-
bivorous fishes with important commercial
value widely distributed in the Indo-West
Pacific Region. They migrated to the Eastern
Mediterranean through the Suez Canal and
have now established viable populations in
their new habitat.
They are relatively easy to rear
and are thus considered suitable for
aquaculture.
They are hardy and easy to maintain
in tanks and ponds.
Moreover, they are extremely eury-
haline which makes them an excellent
candidate for rearing in many locations
not suitable for other species.
Various species are aquaculture
candidates in the Philippines and other
South-East Asian countries as well as
Egypt, Cyprus, Lebanon,Turkey and India.
20 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | november-December 09
Excellent market
Siganids have an excellent market in the
Middle East and south East Asia, and to the
ethnic Chinese, rabbitfish symbolize good
fortune.
Aquaculture of marine fishes is not
always done in optimal environments.
In many regions of the world, estuarine
salinities could become very low during the
rainy season, very high during the dry sea-
Wild rabbitfish in South Africa
(www.spearfishingsa.co.za)
son or vary daily with tidal currents. Fishes
being reared in these environments need
to be able to tolerate salinity extremes and
diurnal salinity variations.
Research in our lab shows that one such
species is the rabbitfish Siganus rivulatus.
The fish survive and grow well in salinities
between 10 and 50ppt and are quite eury-
thermal (17oC to 32oC; optimal 27oC).
Their tolerances to Ammonia and
Nitrite are very high (> 3mg/l) for typical
marine species, and they are suitable for
culture in most marine environments.
Fishmeal unsustainable
Another factor related to the rapidly
expanding field of marine fish farming is
that use of fishmeal is nearing unsustain-
able levels.
Fishmeal production has been nearly
constant, averaging about six million
tonnes annually and demand for fishmeal
is growing, putting pressure on fishery
stocks and causing fish meal prices to
increase. It is therefore necessary to find
alternate sources of protein for fish diets.
If growth of the aquaculture industry
is to be sustained, then techniques to rear
novel species of marine fishes that do not
necessarily need fishmeal in their diets have
to be developed.
Long-term without fishmeal
For the past four years, we have been
studying the environmental tolerances of
such a specie Siganus rivulatus at the marine
lab of the American University of Beirut.
We are very optimistic about this species
and believe it is an excellent candidate for
aquaculture.
Presently, rabbitfish in captivity are main- on nutrition.
tained on teleost feeds rich in fishmeal.
Some trials on protein requirement for
S. guttatus found that a diet with 35 percent
protein was optimal.
However, these experiments were not
replicated for other siganid species and
not even evaluated for the same species in
various environments. The diets tested also
contained a 10 percent fishmeal inclusion.
We still do not know if diets without
fishmeal are suitable. We also do not know
if the fish can be reared long-term on diets
without fish oil inclusions.
Two-pronged research
At the American University of Beirut,
we have been studying siganid biology and
aquaculture for six years. The research has
been two-pronged, with Dr Michel Bariche
studying the ecology of the fish in its natu-
ral environment and my lab studying the
environmental physiology and aquaculture
requirements of the fish.
Dr Bariche’s group have defined spawn-
ing seasons, age of metamorphosis and of
maturation in the wild as well as maximum
American University of Beirut Campus.
november-December 09 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | 21
rabbitfish
sizes found, habitats
occupied and natural
foods grazed.
In my lab, we deter-
mined optimal salinity and
various salinity tolerances,
temperature, stocking
density, growth rates in
sea water and in inland
low salinity well water,
intra-specific competition,
reaction to water move-
ment and tolerances to
ammonia and nitrite.
Presently, research is
Preliminary studies on
nutritional requirements
of the marbled spinefoot Aquaculture research lab at the American
rabbitfish Siganus rivula- University of Beirut.
tus, suggest that optimal
dietary protein for the
fish is 35 percent inclusion in the diet. diet with rape seed oil had a greater
However, this conclusion was obtained proportion of 18-carbon omega-3 FA in
using a formula that estimates best use their flesh.
of feed from determinations of protein Further reseach
efficiency and feed efficiency. In our first Future research on the fish will be to
experiment, fish offered feed with graded better determine protein and lipid require-
levels of protein inclusion between 25 ment, protein to energy ratio in their diets,
percent and 45 percent did not show dif- possibilities of fishmeal replacement in their
ferences in survival or growth. diets and the possibility of using algal prod-
The experiment is being repeated. ucts to develop a sustainable aquaculture
A lipid requirement experiment that was industry.
performed recently indicates that the opti- We are also developing collaborative
mal dietary lipid inclusion for S. rivulatus is work with the laboratory of Professor
between eight percent and 10 percent of Simon Davies at The University of Plymouth
the feed by weight. We also performed an to study effects of various dietary ingre-
experiment where fish oil was replaced by dients on gut microbiota and non-specific
various other oils including corn oil, soy oil immune response variations with variation
and rape seed oil. in diets.
Growth over an eight-week period We strongly believe that there is a future
was not affected by any of the oils used for rabbitfish aquaculture if we develop
but fatty acid necessary production protocols and diets
composition as well as expertise before we start encour-
of the filet aging farmers to try rearing it.The market is
was affected. already available.
Fish offered The science is getting there!
the diet with
fish oil had a
s i g n i f i c a n t ly
greater pro- More inforMation:
portion of Imad Patrick Saoud
EPA and DHA Aquaculture and Aquatic Science
omega-3 fatty Dept of Biology
acids in their American University of Beirut, Bliss St
Beirut, Lebanon
flesh than all Tel: +961 1 350000 ext 3913
other fish. Website: http://staff.aub.edu.lb/~is08/
F i s h
offered the
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