The effects of food consumption rate, body size and temperature on net food conversion efficiency in saithe and whiting

✍ Scribed by N. G. Andersen; J. Riis-Vestergaard

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 237 KB
• Volume: 62
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-1112
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1095-8649.2003.00030.x

✦ Synopsis

Net food conversion efficiency κ was estimated from growth experiments on saithe Pollachius virens and whiting Merlangius merlangus that were fed natural prey at a range of ration levels including satiation rations. The conversion efficiency, which specifies the net energy fraction of ingested energy C, was described appropriately by a simple power function of food consumption rate as κ = 0·272__C__^0·18^ and κ = 0·426__C__^0·11^ for saithe and whiting. This functional relationship was supported by the patterns of accretion of lipids and proteins in saithe. No significant effects of temperature and body size on κ was, however, demonstrated in this study except for the indirect influence using feeding levels (rations expressed relatively to satiation rations) in bioenergetics models.