Umbrina cirrosa is a candidate for Mediterranean aquaculture because of its very fast growth in captivity, even if its nutritional requirements are still unknown. Two isoproteic diets with different crude fat to N-free extract ratio (CF/NFE: L equal to 1.0 vs H equal to 1.5) were tested to evaluate juvenile shi drum productive and quality performance. The trial was conducted using 4 groups of 200 fish fed 2 percent of the mean biomass. Considering a 4-month feeding period, L-diet fed fish showed significant greater weight gain due to higher specific growth rate and lower food conversion ratio. Whole body chemical composition resulted in higher crude protein and lower lipid contents for L-fish. This suggests that the better rearing performances obtained with fish fed on the L-diet are related to a more efficient utilization of dietary energy and crude protein. Colour and texture of flesh were not affected by CF/NFE ratio.