Correlation between digestion rate and feeding frequency in the stomachless teleost, Blennius pholis L. |
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Authors: | D J Grove C Crawford |
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Institution: | U.C.N.W. Marine Science Laboratories, Menai Bridge, Gwynedd, North Wales |
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Abstract: | Foregut emptying in Blennius pholis at 16–18°C is exponential ( St = So e-Rt; R=0.006 when t is in min and s in mg dry weight). In consequence, the time for the foregut to empty completely varies in proportion to ln (meal size) in a chosen size of fish or to ln (body weight) in different sized fish fed to the same relative amount (% body weight). Appetite returns rapidly in comparison with other species (4–15 h for fish of 0.5?30 g) and, because of the tidal constraints imposed on this littoral fish, voluntarily ingested meals are large (14–9% body weight depending on fish size). Studies on digestion in small, stomachless fish are not adequately made using X-radiography and must be supported by sequential gut samples after a meal. |
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