A 6-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate effect of different diets on growth performance,digestive enzyme activitives,phosphatase activities and body composition of juvenile Elineophelelus malabaricus.The juveniles(15±0.5) g were fed with raw fish(Group A),formulated diet(Group B),and Group C was fed with raw fish in the morning,formulated diet in the afternoon.The results showed: WG and SGR of Group A were found to be significantly higher(P<0.05) than those of other groups,and Group C was slightly higher(P>0.05) than Group B.Gastric and intestinal proteinase activities of Group A,and amylase activities of Group B were the highest among the three groups,but no significant difference in lipase activities was observed among the experiment groups(P>0.05);alkaline phosphatase activities of Group C were slightly lower than those of Group A and slighter higher than those of Group B(P>0.05),Group A was significantly higher than Group B(P<0.05),acid phosphatase activities of Group A were significantly higher(P<0.05) than those of other experiment Groups.No significant difference in moisture content and crude ash content in whole fish was observed among the experiment groups,but significant difference was found in crude protein content(P<0.05),respectively,Group A>Group C>Group B,however,crude fat content showed a contrary tendency and the difference was also significant(P<0.05).Hence,raw fish significantly outperform formulated diet for juvenile Epinephelus malabaricus,and it is fairly good to feed the juvenile with raw fish and formulated diet alternately.