The Effects of Dietary Insect Meal from Hermetia illucens Prepupae on Gut Microbiota of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

This study aimed to evaluate the potential beneficial effect of substituting fishmeal with Hermetia illucens larvae meal in the diet of rainbow trout on the gut microbiota. Mechanically defatted insect meal was prepared from H. illucens prepupal larvae grown on a substrate of fruit and vegetables. The high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene was applied to analyse and characterize the complex gut microbial communities of rainbow trout fed for 12 weeks with four different diets: three experimental formulations with increasing amounts of H. illucens meal (Hi 10%, Hi 20%, and Hi 30%) and one control FM-based feed (Hi 0%).