Aquaculture International 8: 41–58, 2000. © 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. Maturation performance, offspring quality and lipid composition of Macrobrachium rosenbergii females fed increasing levels of dietary phospholipids RONALDO O. CAVALLI ∗ , GERBEN MENSCHAERT, PATRICK LAVENS and PATRICK SORGELOOS Laboratory of Aquaculture and Artemia Reference Center, University of Gent, Rozier 44, 9000 Gent, Belgium (Received 26 July 1999; accepted 18 January 2000) Abstract. The effects of increasing levels of dietary phospholipids (PL) on the reproduc- tive performance, egg and larval quality, and lipid composition of females of the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii were investigated. Three isolipidic diets containing similar amounts of highly unsaturated fatty acids but varying levels of PL (0.8, 2.4 and 4.6%) were fed during 180 days to three groups of eight females originating from Thai ponds. No significant differences were observed for fecundity, egg size and hatchability, starved larvae size, and size, survival and tolerance to stress of 8 day-old larvae. Similarly, no major differences in the lipid composition of the midgut gland, ovaries and muscle tissue of females could be detected. Results indicate the lack of need of dietary supplementation of PL for M. rosenbergii broodstock, as previously reported for earlier life stages. It is suggested that the basal level of 0.8% dietary PL was sufficient to meet the dietary demands of the prawn broodstock. The PL requirements of M. rosenbergii broodstock, if any, may be satisfied in commercial feeds through the inclusion of ingredients containing some phospholipids endogenously. Key words: body lipid composition, egg and larval quality, freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), maturation, phospholipids Introduction Phospholipids (PL) make up a significant fraction of all biological membranes and have an important role in the transport of lipids, espe- cially cholesterol (Teshima, 1997). PL may also function as a source of choline, inositol, essential fatty acids and energy, and improve diet quality by increasing its water stability, or by its possible role as an antioxidant or feed attractant (see review by Coutteau et al., 1997). The interaction of dietary PL ∗ To whom correspondence should be addresssed at: tel.: +32 (9) 264.3754; fax: +32 (9) 264.4193; e-mail: Ronaldo.Cavalli@rug.ac.be