Effects of temperature, salinity, and fish size on growth and consumption of juvenile bluefish

Abstract

Consumption and growth rates of juvenile bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix increased with increasing temperature and decreased with increasing fish size in short-term (7 days) experiments. Salinity had no effect on growth or consumption rate in a short-term experiment. In a long-term (90 days) mesocosm experiment, consumption and growth rates declined with increasing body size. Predictive equations developed from short-term experiments did not adequately predict observed consumption rates in the mesocosm experiment. However, growth in the mesocosm experiment was similar to field growth. Also, mesocosm consumption rates and consumption rates calculated using field growth and mesocosm growth efficiencies were similar to published independent field estimates of consumption rate. Our results indicate that experiments to determine the effects of temperature and the allometry of body size on growth and consumption rates should be conducted over long time periods simulating field conditions. Juvenile bluefish have rapid growth and their individual cumulative consumption is large. This result suggests that bluefish may have a large effect on their prey populations. This effect has yet to be quantified.