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Short-term feed and light deprivation reduces voluntary activity but improves swimming performance in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss

Fish Physiology and Biochemistry volume 44, pages 329–341 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (~ 180 g, 16 °C and < 5 kg m−3) that were feed deprived and kept in total darkness showed a significant increase in critical swimming speed (U crit) between 1 and 12 days of deprivation (from 3.35 to 4.46 body length (BL) s−1) with no increase in maximum metabolic rate (MMR). They also showed a significant decrease in the estimated metabolic rate at 0 BL s−1 over 12 days which leads to a higher factorial aerobic metabolic scope at day 12 (9.38) compared to day 1 (6.54). Routine metabolic rates were also measured in ~ 90 g rainbow trout that were swimming freely in large circular respirometers at 16 °C. These showed decreasing consumption oxygen rates and reductions in the amount of oxygen consumed above standard metabolic rate (a proxy for spontaneous activity) over 12 days, though this happened significantly faster when they were kept in total darkness when compared to a 12:12-h light–dark (LD) photoperiod. Weight loss during this period was also significantly reduced in total darkness (3.33% compared to 4.98% total body weight over 12 days). Immunological assays did not reveal any consistent up- or downregulation of antipathogenic and antioxidant enzymes in the serum or skin mucus of rainbow trout between 1 and 12 days of feed and light deprivation. Overall, short periods of deprivation do not appear to significantly affect the performance of rainbow trout which appear to employ a behavioural energy-sparing strategy, albeit more so in darkness than under a 12:12-h LD regime.

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Acknowledgements

The present research was conducted as part of the project “Offshore Aquaculture” funded by the Danish Agrifish Agency through the Green Development and Demonstration Programme (Grant no. 3405-11-0293). The authors are grateful to the technical staff at the DTU Aqua, Section for Aquaculture, for the practical assistance with fish husbandry and laboratory analysis.

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  1. C. C. Lazado

    Present address: Nofima, The Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research, Ås, Norway

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  1. DTU Aqua, Section for Aquaculture, North Sea Research Centre, Technical University of Denmark, P.O. Box 101, 9850, Hirtshals, Denmark

    J. R. Khan, C. C. Lazado, C. Methling & P. V. Skov

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  1. J. R. Khan
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Khan, J.R., Lazado, C.C., Methling, C. et al. Short-term feed and light deprivation reduces voluntary activity but improves swimming performance in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss . Fish Physiol Biochem 44, 329–341 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-017-0438-0

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Keywords

  • Salmonids
  • Metabolic rate
  • Oxygen consumption
  • Spontaneous activity
  • Aerobic scope