Testing Assumptions of Fish Bioenergetics Models by Direct Estimation of Growth, Consumption, and Activity Rates

Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that activity rates can represent a large and variable component of a fish's energy budget. We executed five experiments between July 15 and August 2, 1991, to estimate growth, consumption, and activity rates of five young-of-the-year brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis kept in field enclosures. Mean fish wet weight decreased from 3.47 to 2.89 g during our study. This represented a total loss of 3,544 cal (all fish combined). Consumption rates averaged 0.18 g dry·100 g wet–1·d–1. The total quantity of food consumed by the fish inside the enclosure ranged from 112.9 to 188.8 cal·d–1. Median swimming speed ranged from 3.9 to 7.9 cm·s–1. Energetic costs associated with spontaneous swimming (all fish combined) ranged from 94.0 to 498.1 cal·d–1. Spontaneous activity metabolic rate (standard metabolism + net activity rate) represented 1.6–3.8 times the costs associated with standard metabolism. Our study supported the hypothesis that activity rates can be a large and variable com...

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