In order to improve the rearing conditions and profitability of cultured sharpsnout seabream, it appears essential to learn about this species' feeding demands. As a first step, we have studied sharpsnout seabream nutritional utilization of three commercial diets with different protein/energy (P/E) ratios. Experiments were performed with two fish sizes: 47.7+/-1.0 and 277.6+/-1.2 g. Three groups of small fish (3 replicates/group, 20 animals/replicate) were fed three diets with P/E ratios of 24.24 (H), 23.25 (M) or 21.04 (L) g of crude protein/MJ, for a 2-month period. In addition, three groups of large fish (3 replicates/group, 7 animals/replicate) were fed three diets with similar P/E ratios to those used for small fish, 25.80 (H), 22.57 (M) and 19.67 (L) g of protein/MJ, for 3 months. Higher growth rates were associated with diets with lower P/E ratios. The level of feed intake was inversely related to the feed's energy content (H>M>L). Protein productive values (PPV) were similar for feeds M and L, the former having a higher carbohydrate, but lower fat percentage, than the latter. It can be concluded that sharpsnout seabream uses both fat and carbohydrates as non-protein energy sources. The growth performance with both feeds was similar, although fish fed with feed M had to eat a larger amount to compensate for its lower energy content.