Effect of mushroom powder (Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus djamor) on skin coloration and inflammation in siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens)

ABSTRACT

Skin coloration and immune status are the most valued characteristics when raising Betta splendens. We evaluated the effects of enriching a cladoceran diet with Pleurotus ostreatus or P. djamor mushroom powder on coloration, response to induced injury, and growth of B. splendens. Seventeen fish per treatment (weight 0.60 ± 0.2 g) were assigned to three diets: Cladoceran powder (CP), CP enriched with P. ostreatus mushroom powder (CP + PO), and CP enriched with P. djamor mushroom powder (CP + PD). We evaluated color intensity, responses to induced injury, growth and condition factor (K) with each diet. We found that skin coloration and response to induced injury were improved with mushroom-supplemented diets. Body length and weight were higher with CP, while K was higher with CP and CP + PD diets (K = 3.29 and 2.66, respectively) than with CP + PO (K = 1.82). Our results contribute insights into the benefits of mushroom-supplemented diets for enhancing aquaculture.

KEYWORDS:

• Fish semblance
• dietary supplement
• ornamental fish
• cladocerans
• edible fungi

Acknowledgments

We thank J. Figueroa (in memoriam) for his helpful comments. Thanks to A. Mares, A. Tapia, D. Arizmendi, D. Zepeda, E. Paniagua, M. Franco, O. De los Santos, and Y. Castillo for their technical assistance. We also thank Lynna Kiere for editing the English text.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.