Karyotype variability in successive generations after hybridization between the great sturgeon, Huso huso (L.), and the sterlet, Acipenser ruthenus L.

Effects of particle size, fish size and temperature on the filtration rate of silver carp were determined. When feeding at 20°C on zooplankton and spherical particles (yeast, micronic beads and pollen), 32-g silver carp filter particles larger than 70 urn at a maximum rate of 18.251 h^?1. For particles smaller than 70 μm, filtration rates decrease with decreasing particle size until there is no measured filtration for particles smaller than 10 μm. Filtering rates ( FR ) for particles between 10 and 50 μm are described by the equation, FR =?20.8 + 21.7 × log particle diameter. Filtration rates rise as fish size, particle size and temperature increase. Filtration rates per unit biomass, however, fall as fish size increases: FR = 1.54 W^0.713, where FR is the maximum filtration rate in ¹ h ¹ fish ¹ and W is weight of fish in grammes. The results of these trials are consistent with the hypothesis that particle selection by silver carp is a mechanical, passive function of gill raker morphology.