Short communication Fish meal replacement by soybean meal in diets for Tiger puffer, Takifugu rubripes Se-Jin Lim a , Sung-Sam Kim a , Gyung-Yong Ko a , Jin-Woo Song a , Dae-Han Oh a , Jin-Dong Kim b , Jung-Un Kim b , Kyeong-Jun Lee a,c, ⁎ a Department of Marine Life Science, Jeju National University, Jeju 690-756, South Korea b Department of Global Marketing, CJ CheilJedang Corp., Seoul 157-724, South Korea c Marine and Environmental Research Institute, Jeju National University, Jeju 695-814, South Korea abstract article info Article history: Received 25 August 2010 Received in revised form 20 December 2010 Accepted 10 January 2011 Available online 15 January 2011 Keywords: Fish meal Soybean meal Monocalcium phosphate Tiger puffer Takifugu rubripes This study investigated the effect of partial replacement of dietary fish meal (FM) by defatted soybean meal (SBM) on growth performance of the juvenile tiger puffer, Takifugu rubripes. Triplicate groups of juvenile tiger puffer (initial weight of 20.1 g) were fed one of five experimental diets which were formulated to replace FM protein by SBM at 0%, 15%, 30%, 45%, or 60% (designated as SBM0, SBM15, SBM30, SBM45, or SBM60, respectively). Although negative effects were observed with SBM45 and SBM60 after 15 weeks of feeding, up to 30% of the dietary FM protein was successfully replaced without significant growth depression. Hematocrit, hemoglobin, and plasma phosphorus concentrations exhibited the same trend observed in growth performance. Plasma triacylglycerol and total cholesterol of fish fed the SBM60 diet were significantly lower compared to those of fish fed the SBM0 diet. Hepatosomatic index significantly decreased as dietary SBM inclusion increased. Results indicated that at least 30% FM protein can be replaced in diets for the tiger puffer by defatted SBM with supplemental monocalcium phosphate and limiting amino acids, lysine, and methionine. Further study is needed to focus on a decrease in dietary taurine by FM replacement with plant protein sources. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Due to increasing demand, limited supply, and the dramatic increase in fish meal (FM) price, efforts to replace FM by animal or plant protein sources have been increasing in aquafeeds (Gatlin et al., 2007). Among plant protein sources, and due to its high protein content, relatively well-balanced amino acid profiles, reasonable price and steady supply, defatted soybean meal (SBM) has been the most frequently studied ingredient as an FM replacer in diets for many fish species (Storebakken et al., 2000). Several studies have shown very promising SBM results in aquafeed formulation when limiting amino acids are properly supplemented (Shiau et al., 1988; Cheng et al., 2003; Lim et al., 2004). However, the use of SBM in aquafeeds, especially for carnivorous fishes, is still limited because of plant-origin characteristics such as anti-nutritional factors (Storebakken et al., 2000) and lack of taurine (Gaylord et al., 2007). Previous research data indicate that approximately 20% to 40% FM protein can be replaced by plant protein sources in diets for carnivorous fishes (Chou et al., 2004; Hernandez et al., 2007; Pham et al., 2007; Lim and Lee, 2008, 2009). The tiger puffer, Takifugu rubripes, is a carnivorous species that has been regarded as an important aquaculture species in Japan and South Korea. Since the tiger puffer has the economic advantage of high value from its excellent meat quality, it brings in more than 2 times the price of olive flounder, rockfish, yellowtail, or red seabream (Kikuchi et al., 2007). Among the 15 puffer species in Japan and South Korea, the tiger puffer is the only species being commercially cultured (Kikuchi and Furuta, 2009a). In normal conditions, puffer fish grow slowly and reach a body weight of 1 kg in 17–18 months. Commercial pellet feeds for tiger puffer are commonly formulated with high protein and low lipids. Thus, alternative sources for dietary FM protein urgently need to be verified. Little is known regarding nutritional information (Eo and Lee, 2008; Kikuchi et al., 2009; Kim and Lee, 2009) for the species, especially on the utilization of protein sources (Ukawa et al., 1996; Kikuchi and Furuta, 2009b). Therefore, we evaluated SBM, with supplemental monocalcium phosphate, lysine, and methionine, as an alternative protein source for FM in a practical diet formulation for the tiger puffer. 2. Materials and method 2.1. Fish rearing A feeding trial was conducted at the Marine and Environmental Research Institute, Jeju National University, Jeju, South Korea, using Aquaculture 313 (2011) 165–170 ⁎ Corresponding author. Department of Marine Life Science, Jeju National University, Jeju 690-756, South Korea. Tel.: +82 64 754 3423; fax: +82 64 756 3493. E-mail address: kjlee@cheju.ac.kr (K.-J. Lee). 0044-8486/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.aquaculture.2011.01.007 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Aquaculture journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/aqua-online