Premium
Gastric emptying rate in Pleuronectes platessa L.
Author(s) -
Basimi R. A.,
Grove D. J.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1985.tb04295.x
Subject(s) - gastric emptying , pleuronectes , biology , stomach , digestion (alchemy) , body weight , zoology , fish <actinopterygii> , meal , flatfish , fishery , anatomy , food science , chemistry , endocrinology , chromatography , biochemistry
X‐ray studies of gastric emptying of Pleuronectes platessa force‐fed a moist, artificial diet give the relationship:where GET is gastric emptying time (h), S is meal size (g), W is body weight (g) and T is temperature (°C). The corresponding gastric emptying curve is predicted to be:where stomach contents (g net weight) are S 0 at start and S t at time th. Direct observations of residual stomach contents using serial slaughter are in close agreement with the predicted curve, save for small plaice (below 50 g body weight) which empty at only 50–60% of the rate found in larger fish. The small effects of body weight on gastric emptying rate may reflect the relatively small role of the stomach [Volume (ml) = 0.024 body weight (g)] in digestion when compared with other flatfish. The emptying curve established here can be used in field studies to estimate feeding rate on natural food items, provided fish greater than 50 g body weight are used and the energy density of the food is greater than 0.5 kcal/g wet weight. Smaller fish will have emptying rates which are only 30–60% of those found in larger fish; the change appears to be abrupt and corresponds to the size at which young plaice move offshore from their nursery grounds.