Abstract: Ridgetail white prawns (Exopalaemon carinicauda) is an important marine aquaculture species in China. At present, E. carinicauda is mainly fed with traditional diets (trash fish and wheat meal mixture) during the whole culture process. In this study, we investigated the effect of two feeding modes (formulated diets, traditional diets) on the growth culture performance, physiological metabolism and biochemical composition of pond-reared E. carinicauda. The result showed that the feed conversion ratio (FCR) of E. carinicauda fed with formulated diets was significantly lower than that with the traditional diets treatment (P<0.05). The activity of glutamate-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the contents of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) in hepatopancreas of formulated diets treatment were significantly higher than those in traditional diets treatment (P<0.05). The contents of moisture in muscle of formulated diets treatment were lower than those in traditional diets treatment, while the contents of ash in muscle were higher than those in traditional diets treatment (P<0.05). The contents of monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) , polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-6PUFA) in hepatopancreas of formulated diets treatment were significantly higher than those of the traditional diets treatment (P<0.05) . The contents of essential amino acids (EAA) and total amino acids (TAA) in muscle of formulated diets treatment were significantly higher than those of the traditional diets treatment.

Key words: Exopalaemon carinicauda, formulated diets, culture performance, physiological metabolism, biochemical composition