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Comparing Multiple Predictors of Energy Content in Juvenile Bluefish
Author(s) -
Morley James W.,
Buckel Jeffrey A.,
Lankford Thomas E.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1080/00028487.2012.675909
Subject(s) - liver tissue , dry weight , energy density , juvenile , zoology , fish <actinopterygii> , biology , chemistry , fishery , ecology , endocrinology , physics , botany , theoretical physics
The need to estimate energetic status in fish is common, but determining energy content is costly. We examined the relationship between the energy density of wild juvenile bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix (115–310 mm) and multiple indicators of energetic status to develop regression models for predicting bluefish energy content. Energy density was strongly related to the percent dry mass of whole fish ( r 2 = 0.99) but poorly related to residual wet mass ( r 2 = 0.33), a commonly used condition index. Energy density was related to three hepatosomatic indices: liver wet mass ( r 2 = 0.45), liver dry mass ( r 2 = 0.64), and liver energy content ( r 2 = 0.70). Energy density was nonlinearly related to percent dry weight in muscle tissue ( r 2 = 0.93) and energy density in muscle tissue ( r 2 = 0.83). A biphasic pattern of lipid storage was found in muscle tissue, with very little lipid stored until after a threshold in percent dry weight is exceeded. Using our predictive equation, the energy content in whole bluefish can be determined using the percent dry weight of muscle tissue. However, our predictive model should only be used for wild‐caught bluefish because laboratory‐held fish exhibited higher lipid : protein ratios in muscle tissue.