Table 3. Effect of brown seaweed supplementation on morphometric indices of Atlantic salmon smolts.
| Index | Control | SW-3% | SW-6% | SW-10% | F Statistic (p value) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Body depth (cm) | 4.43±0.09 | 4.58±0.08 | 4.39±0.10 | 4.51±0.06 | 1.03 (0.39) |
| HSI | 0.93±0.03 | 0.90±0.03 | 0.85±0.03 | 0.89±0.02 | 1.60 (0.22) |
| VSI | 9.78±0.61 | 9.05±0.33 | 9.63±0.61 | 9.62±0.46 | χ2(3) = 0.33 (0.95)* |
| Gut weight (g) | 7.30±0.40a | 8.66±0.43b | 7.65±0.46ab | 8.71±035b | 2.99 (0.04) |
| Gut length (cm) | 17.5±0.63a | 19.9±0.53b | 19.0±0.69ab | 20.0±0.42b | 4.10 (<0.01) |
| Intestine weight (g) | 6.09±0.34a | 7.19±0.36c | 6.16±0.39ab | 7.09±0.34bc | 3.16 (0.03) |
| Intestine length (cm) | 14.0±0.54a | 15.9±0.49b | 15.0±0.55ab | 15.9±0.40b | 3.05 (0.03) |
HSI: hepatosomatic index; VSI: viscerosomatic index; SW: seaweed. Values in a row with different letters are significantly different (one-way ANOVA, LSD test, p < 0.05). The F statistics degrees of freedom were 3 for seaweed supplementation groups and 92 for sample size except for HSI which were 3 and 20, respectively. The bolded p values are significant. Asterisk (*) indicates Kruskal-Wallis test was used for analysis.