Effect of continuous food supply on the oxygen consumption of young Mediterranean yellowtail (Seriola dumerili Risso, 1810)

Abstract

The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of a continuous food supply on the oxygen consumption of young Mediterranean yellowtails (Seriola dumerili Risso, 1810) during the photophase period (14LL:10DD). Four groups with six fish each, weighing individually approx. 600 g, were distributed into open 2 m3 quadrangular fibreglass tanks, and fed with commercial pellets for 60 days. Two of the tanks received a continuous feed supply by means of automatic band feeders (ABF), whilst fish in the other two tanks were fed by hand, twice a day. To improve accuracy in calculating oxygen consumption, the effect of oxygen diffusion between the air and the water was determined by the use of a control tank of similar characteristics, containing no fish. Oxygen consumption instantaneous rate was calculated by the difference between dissolved oxygen concentrations in tanks with and without fish, multiplied by the water flow and divided by the estimated total fish biomass in each tank. In both feeding regimes, an increase in the oxygen consumption levels after feeding commencement was observed. The amplitude, however, was lower and the duration of feeding effect was higher in the group fed by ABF.