ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Aquac.
Sec. Production Biology
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/faquc.2025.1619878
Evaluation of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.) larvae meal in diets of Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) juvenile production performance and feed palatability
Provisionally accepted
Juan F. Paredes1*
Marty Riche1
David Bradshaw1
Sahar Mejri2Li Sun Chin1Jasmine Perez1,3
Radu Popa4Nicholas Romano5
Paul S Wills1- 1Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute – Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce - USA, Fort Pierce, United States
- 2Production Biology Department, Nofima AS, SundalsØra, Norway, Sunndalsøra, Norway
- 3Indian River Sate College, Fort Pierce, Florida - USA, Fort Pierce, United States
- 4River Stratium LLC, NOCO, Buffalo, New York - USA, Buffalo, United States
- 5USDA ARS, Fort Pierce, United States
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Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae are insects capable of valorizing various waste streams into protein that has the potential to replace fish meal (FM) in fish diets. To evaluate the feasibility of replacing FM with black soldier fly meal (BSFM) in the diets of Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) juveniles, a two-part study was conducted that included a palatability trial followed by an 8-week feeding trial with isonitrogenous and isoenergetic formulations. Red drum is a marine and brackish-water species fish found in the Western Atlantic, ranging from Massachusetts, southern Florida, the Gulf to northern Mexico. Palatability trial was conducted with BSFM replacing FM in diets at 0% (Control), 25% (BSFM25), 50% (BSFM50) and 100% (BSFM100) levels. Palatability assessment showed that Red drum feeding response was statistically similar between the Control and BSFM25 diets. Feeding trial included diets above plus BSFM replacing FM at 75% (BSFM75) and the effects on growth, feeding efficiency, whole-body biochemical composition, intestinal/liver histomorphology, and intestinal microbiome were assessed. Significantly better growth and feeding efficiency (P<0.05) were observed in fish fed BSFM25 diet compared to those fed BSFM50, BSFM75 and BSFM100 diets. Whole-body saturated fatty acids increased with higher level of BSFM in diets while levels of arachidonic acid (ARA), eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) remained statistically similar in BSFM25 and BSFM50 compared to the Control. Liver histomorphology revealed increased hepatic vacuolization with increasing levels of BSFM. Intestinal microbiota presented high alpha diversity abundance among treatments, but fish fed BSFM diets tended to have genera associated with chitinase and lipase activity. Overall, dietary FM replacement with BSFM is an adequate alternative protein source considering a replacement up to 50%, but levels over 75% caused reduction in growth and hepatic lipid accumulation.
Keywords: Red drum, Black soldier fly meal, growth performance, ara, DHA, EPA
Received: 28 Apr 2025; Accepted: 29 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Paredes, Riche, Bradshaw, Mejri, Chin, Perez, Popa, Romano and Wills. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Juan F. Paredes, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute – Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce - USA, Fort Pierce, United States
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