Gastrointestinal evacuation of particulate matter in polar cod Boreogadus saida

Abstract

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 188:201-205 (1999) - doi:10.3354/meps188201 Gastrointestinal evacuation of particulate matter in polar cod Boreogadus saida Bjørn-Steinar Sæther1,*, Jørgen Schou Christiansen2, Malcolm Jobling1,2 1Norwegian College of Fishery Science, University of Tromsø, 9037 Tromsø, Norway 2Norwegian Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture, 9291 Tromsø, Norway *E-mail: bjoerns@nfh.uit.no ABSTRACT: Gastrointestinal evacuation of inert particles was monitored in the polar cod Boreogadus saida (Lepechin), held at a temperature of 0.5°C. Fish (31.8 g ± 0.8 SD) were fed a moist diet, based on natural prey items, containing a particulate marker. Evacuation of marker from the gastrointestinal tract started 48 h after ingestion of a meal. The average time needed to evacuate 50% of the marker was estimated to be 132 h, whereas the total evacuation time was approximately 400 h. This may indicate that the polar cod does not feed on a daily basis at temperatures close to zero because of the prolonged time needed to evacuate meals. This work provides a methodological basis for studies of feeding and growth in polar cod using X-radiography. KEY WORDS: Polar cod · Boreogadus saida · Food intake · Gastrointestinal evacuation · Radiography Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 188. Publication date: November 03, 1999 Print ISSN:0171-8630; Online ISSN:1616-1599 Copyright © 1999 Inter-Research.