The limitation of using fish meal in aquaculture associated with price, supply and quality fluctuations has obviously occurred in recent years. In order to reduce the risks, using alternative protein sources to partially or even entirely substitute fish meal has become an important research field in aquatic animal nutrition. Nonetheless, the reduction of fish meal used in aquafeed may result in changing the product quality of cultured eel. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of partial replacement of fish meal in the diets with different protein sources on digestibilities, growth performance and harvested product quality of Japanese eel.