Papers by Giulia Maricchiolo
Aquaculture Nutrition, 2021
Aquaculture Research
A trial was performed to study the effects of a partially defatted Hermetia illucens (L. 1758) la... more A trial was performed to study the effects of a partially defatted Hermetia illucens (L. 1758) larvae meal (HIM) to replace a fish meal in the diet of an adult gilthead sea bream. The fish were fed for 120 days with diets containing HIM: 0% (CTRL), 25 (HI25), 50 (HI50), and 75% (HI75), corresponding to inclusion levels of 0, 9.2, 18.4, and 27.6%. A digestibility trial was carried out to evaluate the apparent digestibility coefficients (ADC). Growth performance, morphometric and biometric indexes, gill cortisol, status of gut mucosa, and the gut enzymes’ (alkaline proteases, lipase, and amylase) activity were evaluated. Morphometric and biometric indexes, digestibility, gill cortisol, and gut enzymes were not affected by the diet. Conversely, the 27.6% HI inclusion level worsened the specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio, and protein efficiency ratio. Histology showed no significant differences between CTRL and HI25 groups. Conversely, in many of HI50 and HI75 fish, anatomo-fun...
The effect of defatted Hermetia illucens meal (HIM) dietary inclusion on growth performance, stre... more The effect of defatted Hermetia illucens meal (HIM) dietary inclusion on growth performance, stress indicators and gut histological traits of Sparus aurata was studied. For 131 days, 312 fish were fed with one basal diet, containing fish meal as animal protein source, and three diets containing 25%, 35% and 50% HIM as a partial replacement for fishmeal. On all fish (26 fish per tank, 3 replicate tanks per diet, 78 fish per diet) the growth performance were calculated. At the end of the trial, on a subsample of 72 specimens (6 fish per tank, 3 replicate tanks per diet, 18 fish per diet), stress parameters were determined on blood samples and gut histological tract investigated. Insect meal inclusion did not affect (p > 0.05) growth performance, blood parameters, length and width of villi and goblet cell count of the posterior gut tract while, those of the anterior gut tract while increased (p < 0.05). The histological examination of the intestinal sections showed in fish fed th...
Microbial Ecology, Oct 7, 2022
Gilthead seabream is among the most important farmed fish species in the Mediterranean Sea. Sever... more Gilthead seabream is among the most important farmed fish species in the Mediterranean Sea. Several approaches are currently applied to assure a lower impact of diseases and higher productivity, including the exploration of the fish microbiome and its manipulation as a sustainable alternative to improve aquaculture practices. Here, using 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing, we explored the microbiome of farmed seabream to assess similarities and differences among microbial assemblages associated to different tissues and compare them with those in the surrounding environment. Seabream had distinct associated microbiomes according to the tissue and compared to the marine environment. The gut hosted the most diverse microbiome; different sets of dominant ASVs characterized the environmental and fish samples. The similarity between fish and environmental microbiomes was higher in seawater than sediment (up to 7.8 times), and the highest similarity (3.9%) was observed between gill and seawater, suggesting that gills are more closely interacting with the environment. We finally analyzed the potential connections occurring among microbiomes. These connections were relatively low among the host's tissues and, in particular, between the gut and the others fish-related microbiomes; other tissues, including skin and gills, were found to be the most connected microbiomes. Our results suggest that, in mariculture, seabream microbiomes reflect only partially those in their surrounding environment and that the host is the primary driver shaping the seabream microbiome. These data provide a step forward to understand the role of the microbiome in farmed fish and farming environments, useful to enhance disease control, fish health, and environmental sustainability.
Fish & Shellfish Immunology
Frontiers in Nutrition
The chemical and microbiological characteristics of filets of Spaurus aurata L. specimens fed wit... more The chemical and microbiological characteristics of filets of Spaurus aurata L. specimens fed with diets containing a Hermetia illucens meal (HIM) at the 25, 35, and 50%, as a partial replacement for fish meal (FM) were evaluated. The diets, formulated to satisfy the nutritional needs of fish, were isoenergetic (22 MJ/kg gross energy), isonitrogenous (43 g/100 g, a.f.), and isolipidic (19 g/100 g, a.f.). Seventy-two specimens were randomly killed after 186 days of growing trials. Then, the filets were analyzed for chemical profile, fatty acids, amino acids, minerals, and microbial flora. Data were subjected to statistical analysis. No significant differences were observed in chemical composition. The sum of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) showed a similar content in the filets; eicosapentaenoic acid was similar in the filets of HIM0, HIM35%, and HIM50%, whereas docosahexaenoic acid was higher in filets of the HIM0 group. n3/n6 PUFA ratio and the sum of EPA + DHA showed a high va...
Biologia Marina Mediterranea, Sep 24, 2006
Aquaculture, 2022
Abstract Insects are an alternative protein source recently adopted in aquacultured carnivorous s... more Abstract Insects are an alternative protein source recently adopted in aquacultured carnivorous species. However, the replacement of marine ingredients with insect meal might cut down the n−3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) of fish fillet, a fraction of great interest for human nutrition. Recently, it has been shown that different animal species and the human species better absorb the dietary fatty acids esterified in the sn-2 position of the triglyceride (TG) than those contained in the sn-1 and sn-3 positions. Hence, the present paper aimed to evaluate in which extent replacing fishmeal with insect meal could alter not only the fillet fatty acid (FA) profile, but even the FA distribution inside the TGs. Specifically, three-hundred and sixty gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) were randomly divided into four groups with three replicates each. The fish were fed for 120 days four isoenergetic, isolipidic and isoproteic diets where fishmeal was substituted by Hermetia illucens (HI) larvae meal. The inclusion levels were 0% (HI0), 9.2% (HI9), 18.4% (HI18) and 27.6% (HI27), corresponding to 0, 25, 50 and 75% of fishmeal substitution, respectively. At the end of the trial, 10 fish per group were analyzed for marketable traits, fillet color values and lipid composition. Dietary intervention did not affect any of the considered marketable traits and the fillet color. Major changes were observed in the FA profile of the fillet lipids. The fillets from fish fed HI18 and HI27 contained the highest amount of saturated fatty acids while their n-3 PUFA were significantly reduced in comparison with HI0 and HI9. Analogous variations were observed in the FA composition of the TG fraction. On the contrary, dietary HI did not reduce the overall n-3 PUFA positioned in the sn-2 of TG, nor eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) percentage. In conclusion, dietary HI inclusion did not substantially modify the presence of important fatty acids for human nutrition (i.e., EPA and DHA) in the sn-2 position of the fillet triglycerides, increasing the chances to be better assimilated and absorbed by humans.
Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture, 2021
The rapid, global spread of COVID-19, and the measures intended to limit or slow its propagation,... more The rapid, global spread of COVID-19, and the measures intended to limit or slow its propagation, are having major impacts on diverse sectors of society. Notably, these impacts are occurring in the context of other anthropogenic-driven threats including global climate change. Both anthropogenic stressors and the COVID-19 pandemic represent significant economic challenges to aquaculture systems across the globe, threatening the supply chain of one of the most important sources of animal protein, with potential disproportionate impacts on vulnerable communities. A web survey was conducted in 47 countries in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to assess how aquaculture activities have been affected by the pandemic, and to explore how these impacts compare to those from climate change. A positive correlation between the effects of the two categories of drivers was detected, but analysis suggests that the pandemic and the anthropogenic stressors affect different parts of the supply chain. The immediate measurable reported losses varied with aquaculture typology (land vs. marine, and intensive vs. extensive). A comparably lower impact on farmers reporting the use of integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) methods suggests that IMTA might enhance resilience to multiple stressors by providing different market options under the COVID-19 pandemic. Results emphasize the importance of assessing detrimental effects of COVID-19 under a multiple stressor lens, focusing on areas that have already locally experienced economic loss due to anthropogenic stressors in the last decade. Holistic policies that simultaneously address other ongoing anthropogenic stressors, rather than focusing solely on the acute impacts of COVID-19, are needed to maximize the long-term resilience of the aquaculture sector.
Abstract: The present review reports the results of two studies carried out at the Institute for ... more Abstract: The present review reports the results of two studies carried out at the Institute for the Coastal Marine Environment of Messina (Italy) on the suitability of plant-derived raw materials as dietary components for an innovative fish species for aquaculture, black spot sea bream Pagellus bogaraveo. The research focused on the effects of the use of plant (protein/lipid) dietary sources on growth performance, body composition and gastro-intestinal enzyme patterns in nutrient digestion of wild juveniles of P. bogaraveo. In particular, the effect of a total replacement of Fish oil by Echium and linseed oils and a partial substitution of fish meal with a graded level of Rice Protein Concentrate, will be discussed.
SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science, 2018
CBM - Cahiers de Biologie Marine, 2020
This study describes, for the first time, larval growth stages of red scorpionfish, Scorpaena scr... more This study describes, for the first time, larval growth stages of red scorpionfish, Scorpaena scrofa (Linnaeus, 1758) from 0 until 63 days post hatching (DPH) in order to provide information about organogenesis. Moreover, it could constitute a first step toward the determination of the functional capabilities of the larvae and, consequentially, their rearing needs. Based on the main morpho-histological characteristics, four main stages have been established: lecitotrophic (0-1 DPH), lecitoexotrophic (2-4 DPH), exotrophic I (5-19 DPH) and exotrophic II (20-63 DPH). Scorpaena scrofa larvae use exclusively the endogenous reserves as energy source until first day. At the same time, the other organs appear as clusters of undifferentiated cells or anlage. During stage II, the yolk sac it is reabsorbed, and mouth and anus open outwards. At this stage, the energy needs is satisfied by endogenous reserves and exogenous nutrition. Therefore, even the structures that, directly and indirectly, ...
SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science, 2018
SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science, 2018
Fisheries products found in the landing places or markets usually represent a fraction of what ha... more Fisheries products found in the landing places or markets usually represent a fraction of what has been originally taken out from the sea by fishermen. A more or less variable amount of the gross (or overall or initial) catch, in fact, is returned either dead or alive to the sea for multiple reasons. This phenomenon, generally known as ‘the discard problem’, has raised more and more global concern especially in the last decades since introducing more selectivity gears and acquiring more reliable catch data (also about the survival rate of the discarded specimens) are considered basic requirements in the current management plans for recovering and rebuilding fish stocks. To this concern, the current Common Fisheries Policy aims to reduce the discard rate in the European waters through the introduction of a landing obligation (better ‘discard ban’) according to which all the specimens of the ‘target’ stock caught must be landed. This chapter focuses on the characterization of the catch returned to the sea ‘potential’ available to be landed after the introduction of landing obligation, and the possible use as a potential food source in aquaculture (the direct use for human consumption is in fact prohibited).
SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science, 2018
Aquaculture currently accounts for approximately 50% of fish consumed by humans. The future devel... more Aquaculture currently accounts for approximately 50% of fish consumed by humans. The future development of aquaculture will be greatly constrained by the increasing costs of fishmeal and fish oil. To remedy this situation, scientific research and feed manufacturers have made a significant progress by looking for alternative protein sources for use in fish diets in order to develop feeds that provide adequate nutrition for animals’ growth, while reducing to minimum the use of traditional sources of protein. This chapter aims at critically reviewing recent studies, carried out worldwide, about the effects of the inclusion of new protein sources as insect, poultry by-products, meat and bone meals and other protein sources alternative to fishmeal in aquafeeds. In particular, the impacts of these protein sources in terms of growth, nutrient digestibility, fillet quality traits and sensorial perception in the most important farmed marine and freshwater fish species are evaluated.
Ecological Indicators, 2018
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Papers by Giulia Maricchiolo