Abstract.—Channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus do not feed well at low temperatures. It is generally
thought that a diet containing fish meal enhances feed palatability at low temperatures since fish meal is
highly palatable to fish. There is a lack of information on the effects of fish meal levels on the growth
performance of channel catfish reared at low temperatures. Therefore, a study was conducted in a
recirculating system to examine the effects of fish meal levels on the feed consumption, weight gain, and feed
efficiency of juvenile channel catfish reared at various temperatures. Fish with an initial weight of 9.6 6 0.1
g were stocked in 23-L clear polycarbonate tanks maintained at approximately 17, 21, or 27 8C. The fish were
fed with diets containing 0, 4, or 8% menhaden Brevoortia spp. fish meal for 9 weeks. There was a
significant interaction between water temperature and fish meal level with respect to weight gain. At 278C,
fish fed diets containing 4% and 8% fish meal gained significantly more weight than fish fed the all-plantprotein
diet. However, the level of fish meal had no significant effect on the weight gain of fish at 178C or
218C. This suggests that the olfactory and gustatory responses of channel catfish to fish meal (up to 8% in the
diet) may not be as sensitive at low temperatures as at optimum temperatures. The results also indicate that
more than 4% fish meal in the diet is not beneficial for the optimum growth and feed efficiency of channel
catfish fingerlings raised at 278C.