The male fish fed diets with varying degrees of astaxanthin
concentrations were found to have higher levels of
the substance in their semen (Table 2), whereas fish semen
did not differ in the b-carotene treatment. The results also
indicated that astaxanthin concentration in the fish semen
of the control was lower than both astaxanthin and
b-carotene treatments (P < 0.05). These findings showed
that fish semen did not differ for b-carotene concentration
in both A100 to A150 and B50 to B150 treatments. The concentrations
of astaxanthin and carotenoids were higher
(P < 0.05) than those in the control. The highest concentration
of astaxanthin (10.4 1.4 mg/kg) was recorded in
the treatment of A150 (P < 0.05).