Gastric evacuation in endangered Russian sturgeon ( Acipenser gueldenstaedtii ): Effects of body and meal sizes

Abstract

This study aimed to parameterize the effects of body and meal sizes on the gastric evacuation (GE) of farmed Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) fed on live food (whiting fish) or commercial pellets. The radiography technique was used to monitor the evacuation of food from the stomach into the intestine at postprandial time. Acipenser gueldenstaedtii of different body sizes (total length ranged 82–105 cm) were fed on meal sizes ranged from 23 to 72 g composed of either live food or commercial pellets (had a 20% of BaSO₄ as a radiopaque material). The square root model was found to adequality describe the process of GE in A. gueldenstaedtii independently of meal type and size. The effects of fish size on GER was described by simple power model and can be summarized by dStdt=-ρLL1.84St·(g·h-1), where ρL was 0.000053 for live food and 0.000062 for commercial pellets (estimated from combined GE data), Sₜ is stomach contents (g), L is fish total length (cm) and t is time (h). The results of this study will provide a useful tool to estimate the stomach fullness of A. gueldenstaedtii at postprandial time t. Such information should assess the feeding strategy to minimize feed wastage and optimize the fish growth.