Failure to induce over‐compensation of growth in maturing yellow perch

Abstract

Unlike juvenile F1 male bluegill Lepomis macrochrus× female green sunfish L. cyanellus, maximized episodes of compensatory growth (CG) in 2 year yellow perch Perca flavescens did not surpass control masses because internal regulation caused abrupt appetite reduction upon catch‐up. Together, the hybrid sunfish study and present work indicate that CG‐maximizing feeding schedules and absence of an internal growth limiting mechanism are both required to produce substantial growth overcompensation (GOC). The less vigorous and less resilient CG responses of the yellow perch relative to those of the similarly fed hybrid sunfish appear indicative of the lack of GOC capacity in the former. This contrast, and results of previous studies are interpreted to suggest that GOC capacity may be limited to early life stages of fishes which have a substantial reproductive potential but are at high risk of mortality due to their small size. The possibility that GOC capacity is time‐of‐year‐dependent and species‐specific is considered also. Food deprivation periods that produced the strongest CG responses differed for male (2 days) and female (12 days) yellow perch. Among controls fed without restriction, growth rate and growth efficiency of female yellow perch exceeded those of males two‐fold, however, males showed a greater capacity to catch‐up to same‐sex controls when undergoing CG. A feeding schedule using maintenance feeding v. food deprivation to elicit CG yielded the most rapid catch‐up to control masses in the yellow perch. Such feeding schedules may produce even greater GOC than was achieved previously in hybrid sunfish, where feeding schedules involving food deprivation were employed.