Abstract
Starch is a critical energy source in the nutrition of aquatic animals and significantly influences the physiological and metabolic characteristics of the organism. Therefore, determining an appropriate dietary starch level is of great significance for analyzing the nutritional requirements of
Eriocheir sinensis
. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different dietary starch levels on growth and energy metabolism in
E. sinensis
and to identify an appropriate dietary starch level. A total of 150 healthy
E. sinensis
with an initial weight of 9.49 ± 0.11 g were selected and divided into five groups with different starch levels: 12%, 17%, 22%, 27%, and 32%. Each group consisted of three biological replicates, with 10 experimental crabs per replicate. After the 60‐day feeding trial, samples were collected for the determination of energy metabolism–related enzyme activities and gene expression levels. Targeted metabolomics was employed to measure the content of energy metabolites in the muscle of experimental crabs under different dietary starch levels. The results indicated that the growth performance of
E. sinensis
varied significantly with different dietary starch levels (
p
p
AMPK
) and target of rapamycin (
TOR
) pathways also showed significant differences under different starch levels in the feed (
p
E. sinensis
was significantly different under different starch levels in the feed, which was speculated to be related to the active regulation of energy metabolism pathways. When the starch level in the feed was 22%,
E. sinensis
grew better and accumulated more energy metabolites. These findings provide a scientific reference for starch inclusion in diets for
E. sinensis
.