The experiment was carried out to evaluate the survival and growth of catfish larvae Rhamdia quelen with different sources of protein during the first three weeks of life. Five treatments, with three replications, were tested. A total of 3000 larvae were randomly distributed into 15 groups, maintained under controlled conditions using a termoregulatory water re-use system. The artificial diets tested contained 35% of crude protein and digestible energy varied from 3075 to 3286kcal/kg of dry matter. Granulometry of the ration was 100 to 200mu, 200 to 400mu and 400 to 600mu during the first, second and third week, respectively. The diets were offered ad libitum from 8 am to 8 pm. The treatment 1, containig bovine liver and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisae), resulted in the highest (P < 0.05) survival rate (61%). The remaining treatments: 2 (soybean, yeast), 3 (soybean, bovine liver), 4 (soybean, corn) and 5 (soybean, meat, corn) did not differ significantly among each other, resulting in low survival rates (1.17 to 10.19%). Larvae of T1 were significantly longer (16.46mm) at 21 days of age than the others. It can be concluded that feeding ration containing bovine liver plus yeast results in could be a good performance of catfish larvae.
diet; growth; liver; soybean meal; survival
