Natural abundance of15N and13C in fish tissues and the use of stable isotopes as dietary protein tracers in rainbow trout and gilthead sea bream

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Abstract
For developing efficient diets, two sets of experiments examined whether the use and allocation of dietary protein can be traced by labelling with stable isotopes (15N and 13C) in two culture fish (Oncorhynchus mykiss and Sparus aurata). In the first experiment, natural abundance and tissue distribution of these isotopes were determined, by measuring the δ13C and δ15N values by isotopic ratio mass spectrometry, in fingerlings (14–17 g) adapted to diets differing in the percentage of fish meal replacement by plant protein sources. For both species, δ15N and δ13C were greater in tissues with higher protein and lower lipid content. Delta 15N of diets and tissues decreased as replacement increased, suggesting δ15N can be used as a marker for dietary protein origin. The 15N fractionation (δ15N fish − δ15N diet) differed between groups, and could thus be used to indicate protein catabolism. In the second experiment, fish (75–90 g) of each species ingested a diet enriched with 15N-protein (10 g kg−1 diet) and 13C-protein (30 g kg−1 diet). These proportions were suitable for determining that the delta values of tissue components were high enough above natural levels to allow protein allocation to be traced at 11 and 24 h after feeding, and revealed clear metabolic differences between species.

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