Effects of alternate starvation and refeeding cycles on food consumption and compensatory growth of abalone, Haliotis asinina (Linnaeus)

Abstract

The effects of alternate starvation and refeeding on food consumption and compensatory growth of hatchery-bred abalone, Haliotis asinina (Linnaeus), were determined. Two groups of abalone juveniles (mean shell length = 29 mm, body weight = 5 g) were alternately starved and refed a macro-alga, Gracilariopsis bailinae at equal duration (5/5 or 10/10) over 140 days. A control group (FR) was fed the seaweed ad libitum throughout a 200-day experimental period. Starved and refed abalone showed slower growth rates (DGR, 63 and 70 mg/day in the 5/5 and 10/10 groups respectively), as a result of reduced food intake (DFI 15% and 16% day−1 respectively), after repeated starvation and refeeding cycles. Percentage weight gains (5/5 = 196%, 10/10 = 177%) were significantly lower than that of the control (397%). When refed continuously over 60 days, the starved groups exhibited increased DFI and fed at the rate of 24% and 25% day−1, which were not significantly different from that of the control at 26% day−1. At the end of the experiment, no significant differences were observed among three treatments in terms of shell length (range: 46–48 mm), body weight (range 25–28 g), % weight gain (392–465%) and per cent survival (range 87–98%). The results indicated that H. asinina had a complete compensatory growth following a return to full rations after a series of intermittent starvation and refeeding cycles.