Appetite and growth compensation in the European minnow,Phoxinus phoxinus (Cyprinidae), following short periods of food restriction

Abstract

Changes in the daily appetite and weekly growth rates of individual adult minnows, Phoxinus phoxinus, on ad libitum rations were recorded before and after they had experienced 4 or 16 days of food restriction. Feeding levels during the restriction periods were either starvation or a maintenance ration. The latter was estimated from a previously determined regression model. Water temperature was 15" C and the photoperiod 9L15D in all experiments. The mean weight of fish used ranged from 1.06 to 2.15 g. The 4 day restriction had no detectable effects on appetite or growth. After the 16 day restriction, the minnows showed hyperphagia and had increased specific growth rates and growth efficiencies compared with control fish. The compensatory increases in appetite and growth were not sustained and within three weeks had declined to levels not significantly different from those of the control fish. At the end of the experiments, there were no significant differences between the mean weights or cumulative food consumption of the restricted and control groups. The results suggest that adult minnows regulate their appetite and growth rate in relation to their previous nutritional history.

Compensatory growth and food consumption in gibel carp, Carassius auratus gibelio, and Chinese longsnout catfish, Leiocassis longirostris, experiencing cycles of feed deprivation and re-feeding

“…Zhu et al (2001) did record improved gross growth efficiencies in three-spined stickleback, G. aculeatus L., showing compensatory growth after two weeks of food deprivation and this has also been noted in sticklebacks experiencing cycles of deprivation and re-feeding (Wu et al, 2003). Increased growth efficiency, at least at the beginning of a phase of compensatory growth, has also been noted in Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus (Miglavs and Jobling, 1989), the European minnow, Phoxinus phoxinus (Russell and Wootton, 1992) and the channel catfish ).…”

“…In the context of aquaculture, the use in the experiment of fish housed as individuals may be criticised as unrealistic. The design does allow the relationship between growth and food consumption to be quantified unambiguously (Miglavs and Jobling, 1989;Russell and Wootton, 1992;Hayward et al, 1997), and so facilitates an understanding of the processes, including hyperphagia and changes in growth efficiency, underlying compensatory growth. It also avoids the statistical problems that can be caused by pseudoreplication and interactions between ration treatment and stocking density when fish are housed in groups (Underwood, 1997;Ruohonen et al, 2001;Ali et al, 2003).…”

Compensatory growth in the Chinese longsnout catfish, Leiocassis longirostris following feed deprivation: Temporal patterns in growth, nutrient deposition, feed intake and body composition

“…A short duration of compensatory growth has been reported in several studies. In 1À2 g minnows (Phoxinus phoxinus) starved for 16 days, elevated growth rate and growth efficiency lasted for 2 weeks after deprivation (Russell and Wootton, 1992). In very small juveniles (50À100 mg) of three coldwater cyprinids, compensatory growth lasted for 6À12 days of re-feeding (Wieser et al, 1992).…”

“…Compensatory growth could be achieved through hyperphagia (Miglavs and Jobling, 1989;Jobling and Koskela, 1996;Wang et al, 2000), or a combination of hyperphagia and improved growth efficiency (Russell and Wootton, 1992;Jobling et al, 1994;Qian et al, 2000). In the longsnout catfish study, both hyperphagia and increased growth efficiency played a role.…”

“…The mechanism of compensatory growth is poorly understood. Russell and Wootton (1992) used the cybernetic model of Hubbell (1971) and Calow (1976) to explain the mechanism of compensatory growth. A related lipostat model, proposed by Jobling and Johansen (1999), suggests that the ratio of fat to lean body mass (LBM) is an indicator of nutritional status.…”