The potential of various insect species for use as food for fish

• The aim of this paper is to show the insects as a sustainable alternative source to fish meal and soy meal.
• We have evaluated nutritionally (protein, lipid, aminoacids, fatty acids) several insects.
• We have classified the insects regarding the similarity to the fish meal and soy meal.

Due to the expansion of aquaculture and the limited resources available from the sea, it is necessary to find substitutes for fish meal for use in aquaculture. We believe that the use of insect meals as an alternative source of animal protein may be an option. To use insects for this purpose, it is necessary to determine the nutritive characteristics of these insects. To determinate the potential of insects as a substitute for fish meal in fish food used in aquaculture, we examined 16 different species, 5 of them as different stage of development, of the orders Coleoptera (4), Diptera (7) and Orthoptera (5). The insect analysed have a higher proportion of fat and less protein than fish meal. With the exceptions of histidine, threonine and lysine, the insects present an amino acid profile similar to fish meal, with Diptera b being the most similar group to fish meal. However, the fatty acid content of insects is very different from that of fish meal which is rich in n-3, especially 14% EPA, 16% DHA, practically absent in insects. The insects have higher ratios of omega 6 and monounsaturated fat.