The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different protein sources on the performance of Rhamdia quelenduring the initial period of 21 days. Five treatments and three replicates were used. Groups of 200 larvae were stored under controlled conditions of cultivation, using a thermoregulated reuse system. Food was offered every 2 hours. The treatments tested were: T1 (cooked egg yolk, fish meal); T2 (yeast, raw bovine liver); T3 (soybean meal, raw bovine liver); T4 (soybean meal, rice and corn) and T5 (fish meal, meat and soybean meal and rice). The treatments T2 and T4 had higher survival rates than treatments T1, T2 and T5, and there was no significant difference between T2 and T4, which differed from the other treatments. T1 had a longer average length at 21 days than T2 and it had better performance than T3, T4, and T5 which had no difference between them. It was found that the treatment composed by yeast and liver is more effective on the initial performance of jundiá larvae, and presents itself as a good alternative to be used in diets.
