Economic and Operational Challenges of App-Based Taxi Drivers: A Study of Selected Aggregator Platforms in Chennai City

Abstract

The increasing cost and limited availability of fish meal have prompted the search for alternative protein ingredients in aquaculture feeds. This study evaluated the potential of dried Moina micrura meal as a partial fish-meal substitute in diets for common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Three dietary treatments were evaluated over a 100-day feeding trial: a control diet without M. micrura meal, a diet containing 5% M. micrura meal (M5), and a diet containing 10% M. micrura meal (M10). Growth performance, feed utilization and whole-body proximate composition were assessed. The dried M. micrura meal contained 51.00 ± 0.50% crude protein and 17.60 ± 0.26% crude lipid, with moisture and ash contents of 14.33 ± 0.29% and 10.53 ± 0.06%, respectively. Dietary treatment significantly affected growth performance (p < 0.001). Final body weight increased from 2.67 ± 0.10 g in the control to 4.83 ± 0.15 g in M5 and 6.83 ± 0.15 g in M10. Similarly, weight gain increased from 1.11 ± 0.08 g in the control to 3.26 ± 0.15 g in M5 and 5.27 ± 0.16 g in M10. The M10 group exhibited the highest specific growth rate (1.333 ± 0.012% day⁻¹) and protein efficiency ratio (1.165 ± 0.045), together with the lowest feed conversion ratio (1.90 ± 0.06). Whole-body crude protein and lipid contents increased with increasing dietary Moina inclusion, whereas moisture content decreased. Overall, the results demonstrate the potential of dried M. micrura meal as an alternative protein ingredient in common carp diets. Among the treatments evaluated, 10% inclusion was associated with the most favourable growth performance and feed utilization. Further studies using nutritionally matched diets are warranted to distinguish the effects of Moina inclusion from those of differences in dietary protein content.