Keywords

16.1 Introduction

Aquaculture is one of the largest food production sectors in the world next to agriculture which provides food security and blue economy of the nations. Fish and shellfish are the most valuable edible species which supply nearly 50% of total animal protein (FAO 2020). Globally, 82,095 thousand tonnes of fish and shellfish species were produced during 2018 which includes 54,279, 9387, 17,511, and 919 thousand tonnes of fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and other species, respectively (FAO 2020). Inland culture fisheries like fish and crustaceans are one of the major components in the world fish trade. Feed is one of the major components in the production of fish and crustaceans which accounts for nearly 50% of total fish production cost (Adikari et al. 2017). The feed which has an adequate level of nutrients like protein, lipid, essential amino acids, fatty acids, pigments, vitamins, and minerals is considered as the quality diet for aquaculture production. Minerals are a crucial and minimum requirement to secure the optimal health and growth of all living organisms. Aquatic animals including fish, crustaceans, and mollusks can acquire minerals from the diet and water currents. Absorption and functional forms of the minerals are maintained constantly for normal cellular metabolic functions. This is facilitated by the homeostatic mechanisms operating in the animal and creating to the fluctuations in nutritional intake. The dietary source of 20 minerals has been demonstrated as essential for animals including fishes and crustaceans. Among these, calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, chlorine, phosphate, and sulfur are macro minerals and zinc, copper, iron, selenium, chromium, cobalt, fluorine, iodine, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, silicon, tin and vanadium are trace minerals (Underwood 1963; Davis and Gatlin 1996; Hasan 2001; Goopla 2006; NRC 2011; Antony Jesu Prabhu et al. 2016).

Minerals are responsible for the skeletal formation, balancing of osmotic pressure, maintenance of colloidal systems, nerve impulse, muscle impulse, regulation of acid-base equilibrium and also serving as an essential component for vitamins, pigments, enzymes, hormones, production of blood cells, and antioxidants, etc. in aquatic animals (FAO 1987; Watanabe et al. 1997; Lall 2002). The biological role of minerals in fish, crustaceans, and other animals is given in Table 16.1. Earlier research findings reported that the minerals such as calcium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, iron, copper, and selenium have been identified and recommended as an essential dietary component for growth, normal physiological process, immune system, tolerance to stress, and disease resistance against pathogens in fish (Davis and Gatlin 1996; Keshavanath et al. 2003; Sudhakar et al. 2009; Yu et al. 2013; Liang et al. 2018; Neamat-Allah et al. 2019; Mondal et al. 2020; Musharraf and Khan 2020; Siqwepu et al. 2020; Afshari et al. 2021; Zhang et al. 2021) and crustaceans (Davis et al. 1993a, b; Lee and Shiau 2002; Cheng et al. 2005a; Ambasankar et al. 2006; Roy et al. 2007a; Nugroho and Fotedar 2013; Muralisankar et al. 2015; Srinivasan et al. 2016). Figure 16.1 depicts the role of dietary minerals on fish and crustaceans. Dietary mineral requirement studies normally engage the experiments where animal responses or performance characteristics have been studied relative to the feeding at graded levels. These levels of essential minerals are over a wide range, from zero to levels far beyond optimal. This is because the requirement of each mineral is based on the type of mineral and selected species. In this line, many studies have reported the optimum dietary requirement of minerals including trace elements in fish (Table 16.2) and crustaceans (Table 16.3). In the present chapter, the role of dietary macro minerals and trace elements on survival, food index, growth, digestive enzymes activity, proximate composition, nonspecific immune response including antioxidants, and disease resistance against pathogens in fish and crustaceans is summarized and discussed.

Table 16.1 Biological roles of minerals in fish and crustaceans
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Fig. 16.1
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Role of dietary minerals in fish and crustaceans

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Table 16.2 Role of dietary minerals in fishes
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Table 16.3 Role of dietary minerals in crustaceans
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16.2 Effects of Dietary Minerals on Food Index, Survival, and Growth

Feed index, survival, and growth are major factors affecting the economy of the cultivable fish and crustaceans. In the aquaculture industry, feed is one of the primary factors which affect survival and growth. Minerals are part of an essential nutrient in aquafeeds. Minerals act as catalysts for many biological reactions within the body, including muscle response, hormones, digestion, transmitting senses through the nervous system, and utilization of nutrients from diets. The optimal level of each mineral is required for better feed intake and growth of aquatic animals. The optimal level of minerals are necessary for maintain normal physiological function of aquatic animals which leads to better growth and survival. The macromineral calcium (calcium lactate, calcium chloride, calcium carbonate, and calcium phosphate) incorporated feed fed fish, Sebastiscus marmoratus, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Epinephelus coioides, Oreochromis niloticus × Oreochromis aureus, Labeo rohita, Ictalurus punctatus and the shrimps, Penaeus indicus, and Penaeus vannamei had shown significant improvements in survival, weight gain, feed intake, feeding efficiency and protein efficiency ratio (Andrews et al. 1973; Davis et al. 1993b; Ali 1999; Hossain and Furuichi 2000; Ye et al. 2006; Shiau and Tseng 2007; Liang et al. 2012; Kalantarian et al. 2013; Musharraf and Khan 2020). Shiau and Hsieh (2001a, b), Zhu et al. (2006), Roy et al. (2007a, b), and Liang et al. (2014) reported that the dietary addition of potassium had produced better survival and significant improvements in weight gain, feeding efficiency, specific growth rate, and protein efficiency ratio in the white shrimp, L. vannamei, black tiger shrimp, P. monodon, and the fish grass carp, C. idella. Similarly, the fish L. rohita, Cyprinus carpio, Cirrhinus mrigala, and O. aureus × O. niloticus and the crustaceans M. rosenbergii and L. vannamei showed significant elevations in survival, growth (weight gain and specific growth rate), and feeding efficiency after fed to sodium incorporated diet (Keshavanath et al. 2003; Shiau and Lu 2004; Cheng et al. 2005a; Zhao et al. 2021). Further, dietary addition of phosphorus significantly promoted the survival, weight gain, specific growth rate, feed intake, and feeding efficiency in the fish Heterobranchus bidorsalis, O. niloticus, Pelteobagrus fulvidraco, Clarias leather, I. punctatus, Chanos chanos, S. salar, Clarias gariepinus, Acipenser baerii, Sciaenops ocellatus, O. mykiss, C. idella, Sparus macrocephalus and crustaceans P. monodon, L. vannamei, and Eriocheir sinensis (Davis and Robinson 1987; Davis et al. 1993b; Åsgård and Shearer 1997; Borlongan and Satoh 2001; Ambasankar et al. 2006; Phromkunthong and Udom 2008; Shao et al. 2008; Nwanna et al. 2009; Xu et al. 2011; Adekunle 2012; Yu et al. 2013; Chen et al. 2017; Morales et al. 2018; Lei et al. 2021). Moreover, it has also been observed earlier that the dietary inclusions of magnesium greatly promoted the survival of O. mykiss, I. punctatus, C. idella, Salmo gairdneri, Acipenser schrenckii × A. baerii, M. rosenbergii, and L. vannamei (Knox et al. 1981; Gatlin et al. 1982; Cheng et al. 2005a, b; Roy et al. 2007a, b; Wang et al. 2011; Srinivasan et al. 2017; Zhang et al. 2021). These reports indicate the influence of dietary macro minerals on the survival, feed intake, and growth of fish and crustaceans.

Trace elements also play a pivotal role in maintaining normal physiological functions which led to the survival of aquatic animals. The studies on various fish species, such as I. punctatus, O. mykiss, O. niloticus, O. niloticus × O. aureus, C. gariepinus, and C. carpio, and crustaceans, P. vannamei and M. rosenbergii, indicated significant improvements in survival, growth, and feeding efficiency after fed to dietary supplementation of iron (Fe2O3, FeSO4, and FeC6H6O7) (Gatlin and Wilson 1986a; Desjardins et al. 1987; Davis et al. 1992; Lim and Klesius 1997; Lim et al. 2000; Shiau and Su 2003; El-Saidy and Gaber 2004; Ling et al. 2010; Srinivasan et al. 2016; Siqwepu et al. 2020). The maximum level of feed intake, feeding efficiency, followed by increased survival, weight gain, and specific growth rate have been noticed in fishes like O. niloticus, Carassius auratus, Siganus rivulatus, Huso huso, L. rohita, and I. punctatus and crustaceans like P. monodon, P. vannamei, M. rosenbergii, and E. sinensis fed to graded level of zinc supplemented diets (Gatlin and Wilson 1986b; Shiau and Jiang 2006; Li et al. 2010; Hasnat et al. 2012; Muralisankar et al. 2015; Akram et al. 2019; Thirunavukkarasu et al. 2019; Mondal et al. 2020; Sallam et al. 2020; Mohseni et al. 2021; Shi et al. 2021). Also, the dietary copper (CuSO4 and CuCl2) supplemented feed fed fishes (Epinephelus malabaricus, Schizothorax zarudnyi, Salmo salar, I. punctatus, Megalobrama amblycephala) and crustaceans (M. rosenbergii, P. indicus, L. vannamei, and P. monodon) attained maximum feed intake, survival, and growth (final weight, weight gain, and specific growth rate) have been reported previously (Gatlin III and Wilson 1986; Lorentzen et al. 1998; Ali 2000; Lee and Shiau 2002; Lin et al. 2008; Shao et al. 2012; Muralisankar et al. 2016; Yuan et al. 2019; Afshari et al. 2021). Further, the dietary incorporation of selenium showed a higher survival rate, increased feed intake, weight gain, feeding efficiency, and specific growth rate in fishes such as Micropterus salmoide, S. gairdneri, Argyrosomus regius, Sparus aurata, E. malabaricus, I. punctatus, C. carpio, and Rachycentron canadum and crustaceans such as P. vannamei, Macrobrachium nipponense, and Penaeus chinensis (Hilton et al. 1980; Gatlin and Wilson 1984; Yuchuan and Fayi 1993; Lin and Shiau 2005; Liu et al. 2010a; Sritunyalucksana et al. 2011; Zhu et al. 2012; Chen et al. 2013; Kong et al. 2017; Khalil et al. 2019; Mechlaoui et al. 2019; Luo et al. 2021). Furthermore, the fishes like Cyprinus carpio, O. mykiss, C. idella, and L. rohita showed better survival, protein efficiency ratio, feeding efficiency, and growth (weight gain and specific growth rate) when fed on chromium supplemented diets (Küçükbay et al. 2006; Liu et al. 2010b; Ahmed et al. 2012a, b; Asad et al. 2019). It is reported that the manganese enriched Artemia diets gently promoted the survival of sea bream, Pagrus major. A significant increment in feed intake, feeding efficiency, total weight gain, and specific growth rate has been recorded in the fishes A. baerii and Seriola quinqueradiata fed to dietary fluoride (Yoshitomi and Nagano 2012; Shi et al. 2013). Therefore, above mentioned studies clearly indicate that minerals including trace elements have a significant role in the maintenance of physiological functions in fish and crustaceans, it leads to reduced stress and increased feed intake, growth, and survival.

16.3 Influence of Dietary Minerals on Digestive Enzymes

Activities of digestive enzymes in the fish and crustaceans play a central role in nutritional physiology and may directly or indirectly regulate survival and growth (Lovett and Felder 1990). The fish and crustaceans have digestive enzymes such as proteolytic enzymes (trypsin and carboxypeptidase), carbohydrate enzymes (maltase and amylase), and lipolytic enzymes (lipase) which are essential for the hydrolysis of proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids, respectively (Bone and Moore 2008). Animals rely on a functional digestive system to efficiently utilize the nutrients present in the food and the capability to hydrolyze, absorb, and assimilate the nutrients (Fernández-Reiriz et al. 2001). In another hand, the quality and nutritive value of formulated feeds depend on the digestibility of the individual components (D’Abramo and Sheen 1994; del Carmen González-Peña et al. 2002). Dietary supplementation of minerals can influences the digestive enzyme activities of fish and crustaceans. Dietary additions of sodium showed significant elevations in the intestinal and hepatopancreatic enzymes such as protease, amylase, and lipase in the fish (L. rohita, C. mrigala, C. carpio, and P. fulvidraco) and prawn (M. rosenbergii) (Keshavanath et al. 2003; Zhao et al. 2021). Srinivasan et al. (2017) recorded substantial elevations in the activity of digestive enzymes protease, lipase, and amylase of M. rosenbergii fed to dietary magnesium. Also, it has been noticed that the trace element iron included feed fed fish C. carpio and prawn M. rosenbergii had produced an elevated level of trypsin, lipase, and amylase (Ling et al. 2010; Srinivasan et al. 2016). Also, the fish L. rohita and the prawn M. rosenbergii had shown significant improvement in intestinal digestive enzymes activity (protease, lipase, and amylase) fed on dietary zinc (Muralisankar et al. 2015; Mondal et al. 2020) and copper (Muralisankar et al. 2016). The previous studies indicate the ability of different dietary minerals on the activity of the digestive enzymes. Nevertheless, the studies are scanty on the effects of minerals on the digestive enzymes of different species, hence, more studies are required to clarify the impact of minerals on different fish and crustaceans.

16.4 Effects of Dietary Minerals on Proximate Composition

The quality of the flesh is determined by analyzing the proximate composition (crude protein, lipid, nitrogen free extract, fiber, ash, and moisture) of the whole body and or muscle of any edible species. In aquatic edible species, the proximate composition is one of the most crucial factors to evaluate the nutrient quality of animals. Different levels of dietary minerals showed a correlation with the proximate composition of fish and crustaceans (Muralisankar et al. 2015, 2016; Musharraf and Khan 2020). The macromineral, calcium enriched feed fed edible fish L. rohita produced significant improvements in whole body crude protein and crude lipid (Musharraf and Khan 2020). In this context, the fishes such as E. coioides and A. nobilis fed to different levels of calcium enriched diets showed insignificant alterations in crude protein, lipid, and ash (Ye et al. 2006; Liang et al. 2018). Similarly, Keshavanath et al. (2003) reported from their findings, sodium enriched feed fed fish L. rohita, C. carpio, and C. mrigala showed significant elevation on muscle lipid content and an insignificant alteration in protein level. Also, the same study reported that there was no significant variation in the level of muscle protein and lipid in the freshwater prawn M. rosenbergii. Further, the P. fulvidraco fed to dietary sodium had produced significant elevations in muscle protein and ash contents (Zhao et al. 2021). The fishes like H. bidorsalis and C. gariepinus fed to the macromineral phosphorus incorporated feed have shown significant elevation in crude protein and lipid (Nwanna et al. 2009; Adekunle 2012). Whereas, Phromkunthong and Udom (2008), Shao et al. (2008), and Xu et al. (2011) reported insignificant alterations in protein, lipid, and ash content in the fish O. niloticus, S. macrocephalus, and A. baerii fed on dietary addition of phosphorus. In crustaceans, the shrimp P. monodon fed to dietary phosphorus gained maximum level of protein in the whole carcass contents (Ambasankar et al. 2006). While, insignificant alterations in protein, lipid, and ash have been noticed in the crab E. sinensis fed to dietary phosphorus (Lei et al. 2021). Further, Wang et al. (2011) noticed that dietary administration of magnesium had produced significant improvement in muscle lipid content of C. idella (Wang et al. 2011). While, the shrimp L. vannamei and the prawn M. rosenbergii fed to dietary magnesium showed significant elevations in muscle protein, amino acids, fatty acids, lipid, carbohydrate, and total ash (Cheng et al. 2005a; Roy et al. 2007a, b; Srinivasan et al. 2017).

The effect of trace elements on the proximate composition (protein, lipid, and ash) of fish and crustaceans has also been studied by various researchers. An increase in the crude protein in C. carpio fed with iron included diets has been reported by Ling et al. (2010), however, the same study indicated insignificant alterations in the crude lipid and ash contents. An insignificant alteration in muscle protein, lipid, and ash levels has been recorded in the fish C. gariepinus fed to different levels of iron (Siqwepu et al. 2020). Moreover, the freshwater prawn M. rosenbergii had gained better protein, lipid, carbohydrate, and ash content when fed to dietary iron (Srinivasan et al. 2016). In this context, insignificant elevations in whole body protein and lipid contents in E. sinensis fed to dietary iron have been noticed by Song et al. (2021). Similarly, the dietary administration of zinc did not produce significant alterations in the protein and lipid levels of L. rohita (Akram et al. 2019). While, different concentrations of dietary zinc and copper showed significant improvements in muscle protein, lipid, carbohydrate, essential amino acids, fatty acids, and ash contents in the prawn M. rosenbergii (Muralisankar et al. 2015, 2016; Muralisankar et al. 2019) and the shrimps P. monodon and L. vannamei (Lee and Shiau 2002; Yuan et al. 2019). In addition to this, 1:2 ratio of manganese and zinc complex supplemented enriched Artemia nauplii fed sea bream, P. major had significant elevation in carcass protein, lipid, fatty acid, and ash content (Nguyen et al. 2008). Dietary inclusion of selenium showed considerable improvements in proximate composition (whole body protein, lipid, and ash) of I. punctatus (Gatlin et al. 1982). Therefore, the above-cited studies showed that minerals can affect the proximate composition of fish and crustaceans. However, some studies reported reduction and insignificant alterations in proximate composition of aquatic animals, hence, more research has to be conducted to know the effect of each mineral on different stages of fish and crustaceans.

16.5 Role of Dietary Minerals on the Immune Response

The health status of an organism can be determined by immunological parameters like hematological measurements and antioxidants enzymes. In aquatic organisms, the immunity has been determined by total blood cells count (TBC), red blood cells count (RBC), phagocytosis activity (PHA), hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (HCT), etc., and antioxidant parameters such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), lipid peroxidation (LPO), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), etc. The effect of dietary minerals like potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron, zinc, selenium, copper, etc., on immune responses of fish and crustaceans has been proved by several researchers (Gatlin et al. 1982; Lim and Klesius 1997; Shiau and Hsieh 2001a; Cheng et al. 2005a; Muralisankar et al. 2015, 2016; Srinivasan et al. 2016; Khalil et al. 2019; Mondal et al. 2020; Afshari et al. 2021; Zhao et al. 2021). The increased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and Lysozyme (LYZ) activities in the fish P. fulvidraco, O. niloticus, and S. macrocephalus fed to diets containing sodium and potassium have been observed earlier (Phromkunthong and Udom 2008; Shao et al. 2008; Zhao et al. 2021). Magnesium included diet fed fishes (I. punctatus, C. idella, and A. schrenckii × A. baerii) produced significant elevations in hematological parameters (RBC, HCT, Hb, and ALP) and antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, and GPx); however, the hybrid fish A. schrenckii × A. baerii showed a significant decrease in the production of Malondialdehyde (MDA) (Gatlin et al. 1982; Wang et al. 2011; Zhang et al. 2021). In this context, some macro minerals like calcium and potassium did not produce any significant alterations in RBC, HCT, and Na+ / K+ ATPase levels in A. nobilis and A. schrenckii × A. baerii (Shiau and Hsieh 2001b; Liang et al. 2018). Moreover, Srinivasan et al. (2016) observed that the freshwater prawn M. rosenbergii showed insignificant alterations in the activity of antioxidant enzymes (SOD and CAT), LPO, and metabolic enzymes (GOT and GPT) fed to 0.5 g kg−1 of dietary iron, whereas prawn fed to beyond 0.5 g kg−1 of dietary iron showed significant alterations in these activities.

The dietary trace minerals are also playing a major role in the immune system of fish and crustaceans. The significant increments in TBC, RBC, HCT, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), ALP, and total plasma protein levels in the fishes such as I. punctatus, O. mykiss, O. niloticus × O. aureus, O. niloticus, C. carpio, and C. gariepinus fed on dietary iron have been reported in earlier studies (Gatlin and Wilson 1986a; Desjardins et al. 1987; Lim and Klesius 1997; Lim et al. 2000; Shiau and Su 2003; El-Saidy and Gaber 2004; Ling et al. 2010). Further, the dietary inclusion of iron improved the THC and DHC in the prawn M. rosenbergii (Srinivasan et al. 2016), and SOD, CAT, and glutathione (GSH) activities in the crab E. sinensis (Song et al. 2021). Administration of zinc in the diets of C. auratus, L. rohita, S. rivulatus, and H. huso attained significant improvement in phenoloxidase (PO), respiratory burst (RB), PHA, glutathione S-transferase, (GST), SOD, CAT, GPx, LYZ, ALP, serum GOT, and GPT activities (Hasnat et al. 2012; Mondal et al. 2020; Sallam et al. 2020; Mohseni et al. 2021). Moreover, the crustaceans (P. monodon, P. vannamei, and M. rosenbergii) had shown significant elevations in THC, DHC, and prophenoloxidase (ProPO) and an insignificant alteration in SOD, CAT, GOT, and GPT activities when fed after dietary zinc (Shiau and Jiang 2006; Muralisankar et al. 2015; Shi et al. 2021). The dietary inclusion of copper on the fishes (E. malabaricus and S. zarudnyi) showed significant improvements in RBC, HCT, Hb, Cu-Zn SOD, SOD, GPx, LYZ, and serum protein levels (Lin et al. 2008; Afshari et al. 2021). However, some fishes like M. amblycephala and I. punctatus and the prawn M. rosenbergii showed insignificant alterations in SOD, Cu-SOD, Mn- SOD, CAT GSH, and GPx activities fed after copper included diets has also been reported (Gatlin and Wilson 1986b; Shao et al. 2012; Muralisankar et al. 2016) which indicates the effects of dietary copper level on different species. Moreover, the significant elevations in antioxidants, such as SOD, CAT, GSH, Se-GSH, GPx, and serum protein levels were recorded in different fish species including M. salmoide, A. regius, E. malabaricus, I. punctatus, R. canadum, and C. carpio fed to dietary selenium (Gatlin and Wilson 1984; Lin and Shiau 2005; Liu et al. 2010a; Zhu et al. 2012; Khalil et al. 2019; Luo et al. 2021). In crustaceans, the freshwater prawn (M. nipponense) fed on dietary selenium showed significant improvement in SOD (Kong et al. 2017). Few studies have been reported that the dietary inclusion of chromium also improved the blood glucose and fat levels in the fish O. mykiss and O. niloticus (Küçükbay et al. 2006; Mehrim 2012). The above studies have indicated the effects of minerals on the immune system of fish and crustaceans. However, some studies reported that some minerals did not produce significant alteration in the immune parameters in some species of fish and crustaceans, hence, more studies are required to understand the immune stimulating mechanism of each mineral in fish and crustaceans at different life stages.

16.6 Influence of Dietary Minerals on Disease Resistance

The diseases caused by pathogens are considered as one of the major threats in aquaculture organisms. Aquatic animals including fish and crustaceans are mostly affected by pathogenic bacteria and viruses which leads to reduced immunity, followed by poor survival and growth. In culture systems, antibiotics are used in the diet of fish and crustaceans to mitigate the pathogen-mediated diseases. However, the use of antibiotics may lead to the resistance of pathogens, suppressing the immune system of cultivable species, and also cause environmental pollution (Allameh et al. 2016). Hence, researchers are focusing to find the alternative for antibiotics to overcome the pathogen-related problems and enhance the immune system of aquatic animals. The optimal level of certain minerals, mainly the trace elements like zinc, copper, selenium, etc., can promote the survival, growth, immune system, and disease resistance against the various pathogen in fish and crustaceans (Hilton et al. 1980; Sun et al. 2013; Farmer et al. 2017; Swain et al. 2019). The fish I. punctatus fed to dietary iron (60 mg kg−1) and copper (80 mg kg−1) showed better survival against the pathogenic bacterium Edwardsiella ictaluri and Flavobacterium columnare, respectively (Sealey et al. 1997; Farmer et al. 2017). Dietary administration of zinc (10 mg kg−1) produced significant elevations in RB, SOD, and LYZ activities and an increased survival rate against the pathogen Aeromonas hydrophila has been observed (Swain et al. 2019). Also, the fish S. gairdneri fed to dietary selenium (41.1 mg kg−1), L. rohita (0.3 mg kg−1), and O. niloticus (0.7 mg kg−1) showed significant improvements in the hematological elements (RBC, HCT, and Hb), antioxidants (SOD and GPx), LYZ, and RB levels after challenged to E. ictaluri (Hilton et al. 1980), A. hydrophila (Swain et al. 2019), and Streptococcus iniae (Neamat-Allah et al. 2019). In crustaceans, the increased level of THC, PO, RB, PHA, and survival has been observed in the crab E. sinensis and prawn M. rosenbergii fed to dietary copper (40 mg kg−1) and selenium (0.5–1 mg kg−1) after challenged against the pathogens A. hydrophila and Debaryomyces hansenii, respectively (Chiu et al. 2010; Sun et al. 2013). Further, the dietary organic selenium fed smooth marron, Cherax cainii exhibited a significant increase in the production of THC challenged against Vibrio mimicus (Nugroho and Fotedar 2013). Moreover, the shrimp P. vannamei had shown improvements in granular hemocytes and survival against Taura syndrome virus after fed to 0.3 mg kg−1 of dietary selenium (Sritunyalucksana et al. 2011). The above studies showed the immune response of fish and crustaceans against pathogens.

16.7 Conclusion

The present chapter demonstrates that the optimum dietary supplementation of minerals can promote feed intake, feed efficiency, digestive enzymes secretion which leads to hydrolysis and utilization of nutrients from the diet by fish and crustaceans followed by better growth and muscle meat quality in terms of proximate composition. Also, minerals have potent to promote the nonspecific and specific immunity, antioxidants, and disease resistance against bacterial and viral pathogens, however, optimization of the dietary requirement of each macro and trace mineral needs to be studied for all edible cultivable aquatic species.