Growth, physiological, biochemical, muscle quality, hepatopancreatic histology and gut microbiota of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) fed defatted superworm (Zobobas atratus) larvae meal

Dietary fish meal (FM) was replaced by defatted superworm larvae meal (DBWLM) to investigate the effects of different replacement levels on growth performance, muscle quality, serum biochemistry, hepatopancreas, antioxidant activity, intestinal inflammatory factors and microflora of L. vannamei. The microbiome results showed that the abundance of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes increased and the abundance of Proteobacteria decreased in the DBWLM replacement group, and it was rich in " metabolic" related functional pathways, such as "amino acid metabolism", "cofactor and vitamin metabolism". It is worth mentioning that the expression of amino acid-related enzymes was up-regulated in the DBWLM15 and DBWLM30 groups, and the DBWLM75 group inhibited the biosynthesis of steroids and hormones. The results of all studies showed that the replacement ratio of 45% fishmeal can promote growth, improve antioxidant capacity and muscle quality, reduce inflammation, and enhance the interaction between gut microbiotas. However, high levels can cause damage to the structure of hepatopancreas and intestinal health. Therefore, it is recommended that the replacement level should not exceed 60%.