The Effects Of Astaxanthin And Methytransferase On The Growth And Body Color Of Cherry Barb

Besides physique, color is the most important factor of the value of the view and admiration of the ornamental fish, and is the main factor which affects people’s purchasing. The feed has an enormous influence on the body color of the ornamental fish. The natural feed material is rich in carotinoid.Comparing with natural feed, artificial feed material is short of effective hyperchromic factor, while carotinoid is a main toner, which often results in the worse body color of the artificially feeding samples than the wild ones as well as the mush higher price of the wild ones than the artificially feeding ones of the same breed. A lot of enthusiasts of aquarium pursue to raise the wild ornamental fishes, which on one hand destroys the sources of the wild fish severely, this industry chain also leads to an abominable impact on natural environment on the other hand. As a kind of common toner, carotinoid is wildly employed in the feed of aquatic products. The effective increase in color of the body surface of the artificial samples can be seen by adding pigment composition to the feed properly. Among those pigment compositions, astaxanthin brings better effect. Due to the nuptial color existing among many breeds, male fish possesses much brighter body color that the female one does. So, to apply appropriate amount of androgen will result in the male development on female fish, which leads to a result that the female fish appears more similar to the male one in physique and more bright in body color.Therefore, the study on how to apply pigment composition to the feed effectively, and improve the body and color of the ornamental fish under the condition of artificially breeding to make it as good in quality as the wild one is the goal which the practitioners of this industry are aiming for.This research, rendering the method that applies astaxanthin and methytransferase to the feed of cherry barb, and determine the length, weight of the samples, and the total quantity and the parts on where the pigment sedimentation of the carotinoid is observed, experiments the influence on commercial cherry barb raised by artificial feed containing astaxanthin and methytransferase, and drew a conclusion:1. An effective increase in the total amount of catotinoid existing in the body surface of cherry barb can be achieved this way. An obvious difference can be told between the pigment density of the experimental and the control group after30days’raising with the feed containing100mg/kg’s astaxanthin. The total amount of the carotenoid in the male fish’s skin has gone up by414%; which is twice times more than the fish from the control group; and of the female fish. From the experimental group has gone up by237%, which is1.19times more than the control group.2. Methytransferase has a bigger influence on the growth of cherry barb, which can be observed by the obviously longer length and bigger weight of the samples from the experimental group over the ones from the control group. Both the male and female fish from the experimental group appear longer in length and bigger in weight than the one from the control group; the weight of male fish from the control group is73%of the one from the experimental group, as to the female one70%.3. The sole usage of methytransferase can’t increase the total amount of carotinoid directly in the body surface of the fish, while the combination of astaxanthin and methytransferase improves the quality of it, resulting in the increase in development of growth as well as color, which impacts on the part of the pigment sedimentation happening of cherry barb, especially the female one. Experimental fish see the amount of the growth as well as the color density, and an obvious the quality and color distribution. In the female fish.By the end, the group with the application of the combination of both addition show a result that the carotenoid in the female is96%of one in the male fish, and the female fish has obvious redness on the abdomen, but as to the control group only63%and white.4.100mg/kg astaxanthin can achieve the goal of effective pigment increasing, and neither excessive nor insufficient addition can produce remarkable effect. This thesis offers a reference to the compounding of the feed of the ornamental fish. By the end, there showed no apparent difference among the four amounts (100,200,250,300mg/kg).