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Effect of ration size on growth and gross conversion efficiency of young lemon sharks, Negaprion brevirostris
Author(s) -
Cortes E.,
Gruber S. H.
Publication year - 1994
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.1095-8649.1994.tb01210.x
Subject(s) - biology , growth rate , zoology , fishery , ecology , mathematics , geometry
Young lemon sharks, Negaprion brevirostris , were kept under controlled conditions in an aquarium and fed blue runner, Caranx crysos , at different ration levels. The relationship between feeding rate and growth rate was best described by a von Bertalanffy growth curve, which predicted a maximum growth rate of 140 kJ kg −1 day −1 (0·66% b.w. day −1 ), a maintenance ration of 199 kJ kg −1 day −1 (1·06% b.w. day −1 ), and losses due to starvation of ‐236kJ kg −1 day −1 (1·11% b.w. day −1 ). The relationship between gross conversion efficiency ( K 1 ) and feeding rate was also examined. K 1 ranged from ‐ 64 to 25% and did not drop at high ration levels. Activity levels of both starved sharks and sharks fed at maintenance were not significantly different (0·2 body lengths s −1 ). K 1 values generated from both laboratory and field data suggest that young lemon sharks can convert food to new tissue as efficiently as teleosts.