Use for Soybean Meal-Feeding of Snails

A feeding experiment was conducted to determine a dietary protein source for the juvenile snail, Semisulcospira gottschei. Eight experimental diets were formulated to contain 31% casein, 42% fish meal, 31% blood meal, 39% meat meal, 46% corn gluten meal, 57% soybean meal, 50% cottonseed meal with 23% casein, and 50% wheat flour as dietary sole protein sources. Snails weighing about 37mg were randomly distributed into a recirculating aquarium system at a density of 100 juveniles per aquarium. Three replicate groups of snails were fed one of the experimental diets ad libitum once in every 2 d for 12 weeks. At the end of the feeding experiment, survival of snails ranged from 77 to 89%, and was not significantly different among the treatments. Snails fed containing 25.3% crude protein deriving from cottonseed meal and casein and the diet containing soybean meal as a protein source grew faster than did snails fed other diets. Growth of snails fed diets containing blood meal, corn gluten meal, and meat meal was the least of snails fed any diet. Crude protein, crude lipid, and ash contents of whole body varied with dietary protein source. The authors suggested that these findings suggest that dietary protein source could affect the body weight and proximate composition of snails. Cottonseed meal and soybean meal might be a more preferable dietary protein source for snail juvenile compared with other ingredients tested.

Lee, S.M. and Anh Pham, M. 2010. Effect of Dietary Protein Sources on Growth and Body Composition of Snail, (Semisulcospira gottschei). J. World Aquaculture Soc. (41): 610–615.