Minerals Supplementation in the Diet of Aquaculture Fishes and Crustaceans: Requirements and Implications

Minerals are necessary nutrients that are important to all organisms,including fishes and crustaceans In aquaculture, careful attention must be paid to the mineral content of feed formulations to ensure the health and productivity of fish and crustaceans. This may involve supplementing with specific minerals to meet species-specific requirements. The formation of the skeleton, osmotic pressure balance, colloidal system maintenance, nerve and muscle impulses, regulation of acid-base equilibrium, and production of blood cells, antioxidants, pigments, enzymes, and vitamins are all regulated by minerals in aquatic animals. Aquatic animals have special physiological processes for absorbing and retaining minerals from their food and surrounding water. In order to form a nutritionally balanced feed and increase production, it is important to understand the suitability of mineral requirements for fishes and crustaceans. The effects of minerals on growth, survival, and feed utilization, deficiency syndromes and toxicity signs, bioavailability, and influence on disease resistance in different fishes and crustaceans have been researched and reported by different researchers. This paper summarizes aquaculture-focused studies on dietary mineral supplementation in fishes and crustaceans, focusing on mineral functions, requirement levels, deficiency and toxicity signs, bioavailability, and implications for growth, survival, and disease resistance. In this regard, the paper reviews the optimum dietary requirement of nine minerals, including zinc, iron, copper, manganese, selenium, chromium, cobalt, magnesium, and phosphorus. Therefore, the growth, survival, feed intake, and disease resistance to pathogens in fishes and crustaceans can all be improved by a sufficient amount of dietary minerals.