Aqua-Ento-Ponics: Effect of Insect Meal on the Development of Sea Bass, <i>Dicentrarchus labrax</i>, in Co-Culture with Lettuce

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of 10 and 20% replacement of fishmeal (FM dietary group) with the superworm <i>Zophobas morio</i> larvae meal (ZM10 and ZM20 dietary groups) on the growth performance of sea bass (<i>Dicentrarchus labrax)</i> and lettuce plants (<i>Lactuca sativa)</i> reared in aquaponics. Ninety juvenile sea bass with an average body weight of 21.55 g/individual were placed in aquaponic fish tanks, together with 24 lettuce plants with an average initial height of 8.90 cm/plant and an average number of leaves of 5.75/plant over a 45-day trial period. At the end of that period, all feeding groups exhibited high survival. In fact, ΖΜ10 and ZM20 groups showed similar fish weight gain and specific growth rate (SGR) (<i>p</i> > 0.05), but significantly lower SGR (<i>p</i> < 0.05) than the FM group. Nevertheless, final fish body weight and length were similar (<i>p</i> > 0.05) for all feeding groups. No plant mortality was observed during the 45-day study period. All three aquaponic systems resulted in similar leaf fresh weight, as well as fresh and dry aerial biomass. At the end of the experimental period, plants in the third system showed higher fresh leaf weight, total weight of fresh leaves, total dry aerial biomass, and total produced biomass compared to the other two systems. The results of the present study show that fish fed with the ZM10 diet had higher weight gain (WG) than fish fed with the ZM20 diet, while the SGRs for ZM10 and ZM20 were similar. Both ZM10 and ZM20 diets result in efficient lettuce production. This study also provides data that enlighten the feasibility of integrating insect meals as fish feeds for aquaponics which helps towards the development of an ento-aquaponic approach.