Abstract:
The white-spotted rabbit (Siganus canaliculatus) is a group of marine herbivorous fish that has
the potential to be cultivated. One of the natural food is seagrass. The purpose of this study was to
analyze the feeding preferences of S. canaliculatus on different species of seagrass. This experimental
study used S. canaliculatus and four types of seagrass (Enhalus accoroides, Thalassia hemprichii,
Cymodocea rotundata, Cymodocea serrulata) as test feed. An 80 L aquarium with an aquaculture
recirculation system was used as a rearing tank. The study was carried out in 2 experimental stages,
namely: 4 species of seagrass were placed in the same rearing container (Experiment I), and 4 types of
seagrass were separated, each in a different rearing container (Experiment II). A total of 1 individual fish
was put into each container. Feed consumption was recorded every 24 hours, each experiment was
carried out for 3 days (72 hours). This study used a completely randomized design (CRD). Experiment I
used one treatment with three replications and the data were analyzed descriptively. Experiment II used
four treatments with three replications and the data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Duncan's
test to determine further differences. The results showed that S. canaliculatus preferred seagrass feed,
respectively, C. serrulata, C. rotundata, T. hemprichii, and E. acoroides. Different seagrass feed
preferences are thought to be related to 1) proportional proximate composition, 2) protein to energy and
higher GE/P ratio, and 3) low content of secondary metabolites (tannins). Thus, C. rotundata and C
serrulata can be used as the main ingredients for making feed formulations for S. canaliculatus.
