In the case of the postlarvae fed with Artemia nauplii alone,was evident that this type of food was nutritionally unbalanced, increasing the soluble
protein level without affecting the growth rate. In this sense Mayzaud and Conover
(1988) demonstrated that when the diet is unbalanced the protein metabolism can be
increased as a consequence of excess protein catabolism. A low O:N values observed in
L. setiferus postlarvae fed with Artemia nauplii alone in the present study show that a
high soluble protein content can be reflect how an unbalanced diet affected both growth
and protein metabolism of shrimp.