Southern Catfish Research Articles

The Bioenergetics of the Southern Catfish (Silurus meridionalisChen). I. Resting Metabolic Rate as a Function of Body Weight and Temperature

Resting metabolic rates of young southern catfish (Silurus meridionalis Chen) weighing 10. 8-422.6 g were measured by use ofa continuous-flow respirometer. Mean specific metabolic rates at 10°, 15°, 20°, 25°, and 30° C were 21.48, 40.47, 56. 81, 92.79, and 115.48 mg O₂/kg/h, respectively. Values of the mass exponent (b) in the relationship between metabolic rate (M) and body mass (W) ($M = aW^{b}$, where a is a proportionality constant) decreased with increasing temperature from 0.9401 at 10° C to 0.7476 at 30° C Values of the temperature exponent (B) in the relationship between mass-specific metabolic rate (M′) and temperature ($M\prime = AW^{B}$, where A is a constant specific to the species) decreased with increasing body weight, from 1. 7196 for fish weighing 36.14 g to 1.2507 for fish weighing 291.99 g. Thispaperpresents a multiregression equation to describe the interacting effects of body mass and temperature (T) on specific metabolic rate: $M\prime = cT^{B}W^{(b\prime+rlnT)}$, where r is a new coe...