Open AccessA Partial Energy Budget for the Australian Crayfish Cherax tenuimanus
Author(s) -
Villarreal Humberto
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of the world aquaculture society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1749-7345
pISSN - 0893-8849
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-7345.1991.tb00742.x
Subject(s) - crayfish , biology , energy budget , joule (programming language) , energetics , aquaculture , crustacean , ecology , zoology , fishery , efficient energy use , fish <actinopterygii>
The freshwater crayfish Cherax tenuimanus (marron) has been attracting an increasing degree of attention for aquaculture due to its high growth rate and large harvest size. In this study some important parameters related to the physiological energetics of C. tenuimanus were defined in a series of independent experiments. Food consumption by marron increased when fed a variety of foods, providing up to 29 joule/g dry wt crayfish per hour. Mean energy content of feces was 7, 941 joule/g dry wt representing up to 17% of ingested food while excreted energy was not important in the overall budget. Metabolic requirements per hour were 5.4 joule/g dry wt. Gross conversion efficiency was up to 58% for the experimental diets. This ability gives the species a marked advantage for commercial culture over other related species with more subdued growth efficiencies.