Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae exoskeleton as a potential source of chitin in diets for juvenile channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)

Juvenile channel catfish were fed one of five diets containing either no chitin, pure chitin (500 mg or 1000 mg), or black solder fly larvae-derived chitin (500 mg or 1000 mg) for approximately 9 weeks. Digesta was collected from fish and DNA was extracted. Bacterial microbiota profiling was performed via sequencing of the V3-4 region of the 16S rRNA gene on an Illumina MiSeq.