Skip to main content

Appetite and growth compensation in the European minnow,Phoxinus phoxinus (Cyprinidae), following short periods of food restriction

Environmental Biology of Fishes volume 34, pages 277–285 (1992)Cite this article

Synopsis

Changes in the daily appetite and weekly growth rates of individual adult minnows,Phoxinus phoxinus, on ad libitum rations were recorded before and after they had experienced 4 or 16 days of food restriction. Feeding levels during the restriction periods were either starvation or a maintenance ration. The latter was estimated from a previously determined regression model. Water temperature was 15°C and the photoperiod 9L15D in all experiments. The mean weight of fish used ranged from 1.06 to 2.15 g. The 4 day restriction had no detectable effects on appetite or growth. After the 16 day restriction, the minnows showed hyperphagia and had increased specific growth rates and growth efficiencies compared with control fish. The compensatory increases in appetite and growth were not sustained and within three weeks had declined to levels not significantly different from those of the control fish. At the end of the experiments, there were no significant differences between the mean weights or cumulative food consumption of the restricted and control groups. The results suggest that adult minnows regulate their appetite and growth rate in relation to their previous nutritional history.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References cited

  • Apfelbaum, M. 1978. Adaptations to changes in caloric intake. Proc. Food Nutr. Sci. 2: 543–559.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashworth, A. 1986. Catch-up growth in children. Nutr. Rev. 44: 157–163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bilton, H.T. & G.L. Robins. 1973. The effect of starvation and subsequent feeding on survival and growth of Fulton Channel sockeye salmon fry,Oncorhynchus nerka. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 30: 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyle, P.C., L.H. Storlien, A.E. Harper & R.E. Keesey. 1981. Oxygen consumption and locomotor activity during restricted feeding and realimentation. Amer. J. Physiol. 241: R392–R397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calow, P. 1973. On the regulatory nature of individual growth: some observations from freshwater snails. J. Zool., Lond. 170: 415–428.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calow, P. 1976. Biological machines: a cybernetic approach. Edward Arnold, London. 134 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, S. 1978. Studies on the energy budgets of two freshwater teleosts. M.Sc. Thesis, University of Wales, Aberystwyth. 135 pp.

  • Cross, D.G. & P.A. Hursey. 1973. Chloramine-T for the control ofIchthyophthirius multifiliis (Fouquet). J. Fish Biol. 5: 789–798.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cui, Y. & R.J. Wootton. 1988. Bioenergetics of growth of a cyprinid,Phoxinus phoxinus: the effect of ration, temperature and body size on food consumption, faecal production and nitrogenous excretion. J. Fish Biol. 33: 431–443.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cui, Y. & R.J. Wootton. 1989. Bioenergetics of growth of a cyprinid,Phoxinus phoxinus (L.): development and testing of a growth model. J. Fish Biol. 34: 47–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobson, S.H. & R.M. Holmes. 1984. Compensatory growth in the rainbow trout,Salmo gairdneri Richardson. J. Fish Biol. 25: 649–656.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliot, D.L., K.S. Goldberg & W.M. Bennett. 1989. Sustained depression of the resting metabolic rate after massive weight loss. Amer. J. Clin. Nutr. 49: 1: 93–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greeff, J.C., H.H. Meissner, C.Z. Rout & R.J. Janse van Rensberg. 1986. The effect of compensatory growth on feed intake, growth rate and efficiency of feed utilization in sheep. S. Aft. J. Anim. Sci. 16: 155–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hubbell S.P. 1971. Of sowbugs and systems: the ecological bioenergetics of a terrestrial isopod. pp. 269–323. In: B.C. Patten (ed.) Systems Analysis and Simulation in Ecology 1, Academic Press, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jobling, M. 1980. Effects of starvation on proximate chemical composition and energy utilization of plaice,Pleuronectes platessa L. J. Fish Biol. 17: 325–334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kindschi, G.A. 1988. Effect of intermittent feeding on growth of rainbow trout,Salmo gairdneri Richardson. Aquacul. Fish. Manag. 19: 213–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Magnen, J. 1985. Hunger. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 157 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ledin, I. 1984. Effect of restricted feeding and realimentation on growth, carcass composition and organ growth during the first seven days of realimentation in rabbits. Acta Agr. Scand. 34: 54–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehsin, K.A.A. 1981. Some effects of food supply on the annual cycle of femalePhoxinus phoxinus (L.). Ph.D. Thesis, University of Wales, Aberystwyth. 212 pp.

  • Mersmann, H.J., M.D. MacNeil, S.C. Seideman & W.G. Pond. 1987. Compensatory growth in finishing pigs after feed restriction. J. Anim. Sci. 64: 752–764.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miglavs, I. & M. Jobling. 1989. Effects of feeding regime on food consumption, growth rates and tissue nucleic acids in juvenile Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus, with particular respect to compensatory growth. J. Fish Biol. 34: 947–957.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinton, J.C. & R.W. Blake. 1990. The effect of feed cycling and ration level on the compensatory growth response in rainbow trout,Oncorynchus mykiss. J. Fish Biol. 37: 33–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, F.J., J. Plank & M. Kirchgessncr. 1985. Effects of protein or energy restriction with subsequent realimentation on performance parameters of carp (Cyprinus carpio L.). Aquaculture 48: 23–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorpe, J.E. 1986. Age at first maturity in Atlantic salmon,Salmo salar: freshwater period influences and conflicts with smolting. Can. Spec. Publ. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 89: 7–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weatherley, A.H. & H.S. Gill. 1981. Recovery growth following periods of restricted rations and starvation in rainbow troutSalmo gairdneri Richardson. J. Fish Biol. 18: 195–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, V.J. & J.W. Sheedy. 1987. The efficiency of growth during body weight recovery in young female rats. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 87A: 547–549.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wieser, W., G. Krumschnabel & J. Ojwang-Okwor. 1992. The energetics of starvation and growth after refeeding in juveniles of three cyprinid species. Env. Biol. Fish. 33: 63–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, P.N. & D.F. Osbourn. 1960. Compensatory growth after undernutrition in mammals and birds. Biol. Rev. 35: 324–363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wootton, R.J. 1990. Ecology of teleost fishes. Chapman and Hall, London. 404 pp.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, Dyfed, SY23 3DA, Wales, UK

    Nigel R. Russell & Robert J. Wootton

Authors
  1. Nigel R. Russell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert J. Wootton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Russell, N.R., Wootton, R.J. Appetite and growth compensation in the European minnow,Phoxinus phoxinus (Cyprinidae), following short periods of food restriction. Environ Biol Fish 34, 277–285 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00004774

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00004774

Key words

  • Regulation
  • Food consumption
  • Specific growth rate
  • Growth efficiency
  • Hyperphagia