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. 2015 Dec 22;10(12):e0145456. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0145456

Fig 1. Schematic overview of the experimental design.

Fig 1

Five large tanks containing six individual canvases of two metric ton volume each per tank were set up. Asian seabass siblings (103 dph) from a pairwise cross performed with two brooders selected for increased growth rate were tagged, measured, photographed and placed into the canvases at 75 individuals per canvas initial density. Following a short adaptation period, frozen baitfish (Feed A, control) and five commercial pelleted growout feeds (Feed B-F) were fed to their respective groups at an average body weight (BW)/day for 61 days; Group A: 6.1%; Group B, C, D, E: 2.2%; Group F: 1.8%. The amount of feed was adjusted on a weekly basis based on BW measurements of 15 individuals per canvas. At 139 dph, all the fish were measured and 25 individuals were randomly removed to reduce density. During the 147–151 dph period, gradual change in pellet size fed to fishes in groups B, C, D and F. At the end of the experiment all individuals were measured and photographed and samples were collected for the different analyses. [Only fish from Groups A-D were subjected to detailed analysis, whereas the other two groups (E&F) were excluded due to technical reasons.]