A Dive into Essential Minerals for Prawns
Minerals are crucial for the health and growth of many animals, including prawns. Just like humans need a balanced diet to stay healthy, prawns need the right mix of minerals from their diet and water for strong shells, good metabolism, and a healthy immune system. For example, calcium and phosphorus are important for building their shells, while other minerals help keep their immune system strong.
While we know quite a bit about some minerals in prawns, we need to learn more about others, such as iron and magnesium, especially for certain types of prawns like Australia’s most farmed prawn species, the black tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon). This is important because factors like their growth stage or stress from their environment can change what nutrients they need.
Figure 1. Effects of dietary mineral imbalance on gross shrimp morphology. Images are a) healthy shrimp; b) pigment deficiency syndrome; and c) cramp tail syndrome.
CSIRO aquaculture scientists have produced a review paper to highlight the necessity of minerals in diets for prawns, especially as prawn farming becomes more and more intensified. The review gives recommendations on the amounts of minerals needed for the three main types of farmed prawns including the white legged shrimp (Penaus vannamei), the black tiger prawn (Penaus monodon) and the kuruma shrimp (Marsupenaeus japonicus) shown in Table 1. This table can help aquaculture nutritionists to create prawn diets that have the right mineral balance. It’s also useful for setting directions for future research on mineral requirement studies for prawns. This work is not only critical for meeting the growing global demand for prawns but also for ensuring their welfare in aquaculture settings.
Table 1. Summary table of recommended dietary levels for minerals of different prawn species.
|
Mineral |
Species |
||
|
White legged shrimp |
Black tiger prawn |
Kuruma shrimp |
|
|
(Penaeus vannamei) |
(Penaeus monodon) |
(Metapenaeus japonicus) |
|
|
Macro-minerals (%) |
|||
|
Calcium |
NR |
NR |
NR |
|
Phosphorus |
1-2 |
0.74 |
1-2 |
|
Calcium:Phosphorus |
≥1 |
≥1 |
≥1 |
|
Potassium |
NR |
≥1 |
0.9 |
|
Magnesium |
0.26-0.35 |
R |
0.1-0.5 |
|
Micro-minerals (mg/kg) |
|||
|
Copper |
32-34 |
15-21 |
NR |
|
Iron |
R |
Not tested |
NR |
|
Manganese |
R |
R |
NR |
|
Selenium |
0.2-0.6 |
R |
Not tested |
|
Zinc |
32 |
32-34 |
Not tested |
R = required but no value available. NR = not required.
The review titled ‘Mineral nutrition in penaeid shrimp’ was within the 2023 top 10% most downloaded papers published in Reviews in Aquaculture and can be found at the link https://doi.org/10.1111/raq.12780
CSIRO Aquaculture contact:
Ha Truong – Research Scientist