Premium
The interaction of temperature and fish size on growth of juvenile halibut
Author(s) -
Jonassen T. M.,
Imsland A. K.,
Stefansson S. O.
Publication year - 1999
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.1095-8649.1999.tb00635.x
Subject(s) - juvenile , biology , halibut , growth rate , zoology , fish <actinopterygii> , juvenile fish , fishery , ecology , mathematics , geometry
Growth rate of individually tagged juvenile halibut was influenced significantly by the interaction of temperature and fish size. The results suggest an optimum temperature for growth of juvenile halibut in the size range 5–70 g between 12 and 15° C. Overall growth rate was highest at 13° C (1·62% day −1 ). At c. 5 g at the beginning of the experiment, fish at 16° C had the highest growth rate (3·2% day −1 ), but reduced this rate as they grew bigger. At 9 and 11°p C, growth rates were equal or only slightly lower during the later stages of the experiment, while the fish at 6° C showed significantly lower overall growth rate (0·87% day −1 ). Optimal temperature for growth decreased rapidly with increasing size, indicating an ontogenetic reduction in optimum temperature for growth. Moreover, a more flattened parabolic regression curve between growth and temperature as size increased indicated reduced temperature dependence with size. Although individual growth rates varied significantly at all times within the experimental temperatures, significant size rank correlations were maintained during the experiment. This indicated an early establishment of a stable size hierarchy within the fish groups. Haematocrit was highest at the highest temperature while Na + /K + ‐ATPase activity was inversely related to temperature. There was no difference in plasma Na + , Cl − and K + concentrations among the temperature groups.