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Explosive development of pectoral muscle fibres in large juvenile blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus
Author(s) -
Lahiri S.,
Fine M. L.
Publication year - 2015
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/jfb.12782
Subject(s) - ictalurus , catfish , biology , juvenile , pectoral muscle , hatching , anatomy , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , zoology , ecology
As part of an effort on scaling of pectoral spines and muscles, the basis for growth was examined in six pectoral muscles in juvenile blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus , the largest catfish in North America. Fibre number increases slowly in fish from 13·0 to 26·4 cm in total length, doubles by 27·0 cm and remains stable in larger individuals. Simultaneously, mean fibre diameter decreases by half, caused by the addition of new small fibres, before increasing non‐linearly in larger fish. The orders of magnitude disparity between the size at hatching and the size of large adults may have selected for rapid muscle fibre addition at a threshold size.