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¹ Pukyong National University, Department of Marine Bio-materials & Aquaculture/Feeds & Foods Nutrition Research Center, Busan, Korea
² National Institute of Fisheries Science (NIFS), Aquafeed Research Center, Pohang, 791-923, Korea DOI : 10.4194/1303-2712-v17_3_09 Viewed : 7483 - Downloaded : 3415 The synergistic effects of dietary vitamin C and selenium (Se) on induced methylmercury (MeHg) toxicity in juvenile olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus were examined in this study. Nine diets containing 3 different vitamin C levels (0, 200 and 400 mg kg^-1 diet in the form of L-ascorbyl-2-monophosphate), 3 different Se levels (0, 2 and 4 mg kg^-1 diet in the form of selenomethionine) at a constant level of MeHg (20 mg kg^-1 diet in the form of MeHg) were formulated and fed to triplicate groups of juvenile olive flounder with mean weight of 2.00±0.04 g (mean± SD) in semi recirculation system using 3² factorial design. Growth performance and tissue Hg burden were determined after 8 weeks of feeding. Fish fed diets containing 400 mg kg^-1 vitamin C together with 2 and 4 mg kg^-1 Se (C₄₀₀Se₂ and C₄₀₀Se₄) showed significantly (P<0.05) higher weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR) and feed efficiency (FE). Whereas fish which were under the C₄₀₀Se₄ diet exhibited significantly (P<0.05) higher and protein efficiency ratio (PER) than other feeding groups. Tissue Hg burden in muscle, liver and kidney showed a tendency of increasing with decreasing the levels of vitamin C and Se. However, significantly low tissue Hg burden was observed from fish fed diets containing 400 mg kg^-1 vitamin C together with 2 and 4 mg kg^-1 Se (C₄₀₀Se₂ and C₄₀₀Se₄). The results suggested that tissue Hg burden could be reduced and MeHg mediated growth problems could be ameliorated by supplementing dietary vitamin C and Se in juvenile olive flounder. Keywords : Mercury, bioaccumulation, tissue burden, growth