Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of seasons (summer and winter) on the proximate, amino acid and fatty acid compositions of gilthead sea bream fish fed with commercial diets in sea cages and earthen ponds in the Aegean Sea in Türkiye. In general, the nutrient composition of the diets met the nutritional needs of the fish. Proximate analysis of fish fillets revealed that fish reared in earthen ponds had the lowest moisture and highest lipid content in the winter season (p 0.05). Growing gilthead sea bream in marine cages produced fillets with high contents of the essential fatty acids (EFA) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3). On the other hand, the 18:1n-9 and 18:3n-3 contents of fish reared in earthen ponds increased by 25.64 and 18.80% respectively, compared to those in marine cages. Fillet content of total n-3 fatty acid were comparatively higher (p