Research advances in nutritional physiology and high-efficiency and environment-friendly feed of Litopenaeus vannamei

The Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) is rich in protein, minerals and unsaturated fatty acids, and is a high-quality protein source with balanced nutrition and high economic value. L. vannamei has become the most important marine shrimp culture species in China, with an annual output of 1 197 700 tons, accounting for more than 85% of the country’s total output of cultured marine shrimp. Although the research on the nutritional physiology of L. vannamei is gradually deepened, the feed formula is gradually improved, and the processing technology is gradually maturing, there are still many problems to be solved. In view of the key problems in the development of the shrimp industry, including the shortage of feed materials, the increasing pressure on the culturing environment and the degradation of germplasm resources, it is particularly important to build a database of precise nutritional requirements of L. vannamei in different growth stages and breeding conditions. It is helpful to enhance the ability of stress resistance and health of the cultured shrimp, improve the feed utilization and reduce nitrogen and phosphorus emissions, and ultimately achieve sustainable development of the environment-friendly and profitable L. vannamei culturing industry. Up to now, there have been a lot of reports on the shrimp’s nutritional requirements and feed, yet studies on its precise nutritional requirements at different growth stages and the relationship between nutrients and functional feed additives are still not thorough enough. This paper summarizes the requirements of L. vannamei for protein, lipid, carbohydrates and micronutrients, dietary replacement of fish meal with other protein resources and fish oil with other lipid resources, as well as the application of functional feed additives. Therefore, future studies should focus on ① research and development of new non-food protein sources to replace fishmeal and soybean meal, ② research and development of original functional feed additives, ③ construction of accurate nutrition database for different growth stages, and ④ research on nutrition metabolism mechanism. We hope this review can provide scientific reference for the study of accurate nutrition and development of high-efficiency and environment-friendly formula feed, so as to promote the healthy and sustainable development of L. vannamei aquaculture industry.