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Efficiency of Food Conversion by Young Largemouth Bass Micropterus Salmoides (Lacépède)
Author(s) -
Prather E. E.
Publication year - 1951
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1950)80[154:eofcby]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - micropterus , bass (fish) , fishery , zoology , biology , forage , body weight , feed conversion ratio , agronomy , endocrinology
The efficiency of food conversion by largemouth bass fingerlings was determined for a total of 138 individuals over a period of 6 years. The largemouth bass were kept in separate circular concrete pools 12 feet in diameter and 2 feet deep, and were fed small forage fish twice a week for periods varying in length from 5 to 12 weeks. The efficiency of food conversion was determined by dividing the weight of food consumed by the weight gained during the feeding period. Conversion factors varied from 1.5 to 24.2 the first year, but the variation was much less during the following 5 years. An average of about 4 pounds of forage fish was required to produce one pound of largemouth bass. Fingerlings less than 2 ounces in initial weight made more efficient gains than did those of 2 to 6 ounces in initial weight.