Dina-
There have been a few studies considering the effect of container size on larval fish. You may wish to track down:
Oiestad, V. 1985. Predation on fish larvae as a regulatory force, illustrated in mesocosm studies with large groups of larvae. NAFO Sci. Coun. Studies 8: 25-32
Theilacker, S. T. 1980. Rearing container size affects morphology and nutritional condition of larval jack mackeral, Trachurus symmetricus. Fish. Bull. U. S. 78:789-791.
We have been performing experiments testing the effect of container size on adult zooplanktivorous fish (bay anchovy, Anchoa mitchilli) and found a strong response in fish growth to the size of the container in which they were placed. We hypothesize that the fish feed less in containers with more walls and less open water-i.e. narrow ones.
We also had an undergraduate student test the effect of container size on Gobi larvae (2-10mm length). She found a strong result of increasing growth with increasing cylinder volume-though decreasingly after a volume of about 50 l, or 35.94 cm diameter-i.e. below a diameter of 36 cm, growth was MUCH lower than in cylinders >36 cm in diameter. Growth increased relatively little as diameter increased above 36 cm.
The long and short of it seems to be that narrow cylinders do have a strong impact on particle feeding fish, but that after a certain threshold cylinder diameter, the effect is relatively unimportant.
Hope this helps.
Cheer,
Bill
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > ><> ><> > ><> ><> ><> > ><> ><> Bill Mowitt Chesapeake Biological Laboratory P.O. Box 38 Solomons, MD 20688 [log in to unmask] The Bill Mowitt Hotline (703) 927-8598
-----Original Message----- From: Scientific forum on fish and fisheries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of DINA M. LEECH Sent: Friday, February 26, 1999 10:44 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Cylinders and Fish Larvae
Hello All-
I am considering constructing some cylindrical columns to incubate fish larvae in the water column of lakes. The fish larvae will be approx. 5-10 mm in length. The length of the cylinders will be 3-4 meters with 50-100 larvae per column.
I was wondering if anyone has ever cultured or incubated fish larvae in cylindrical containers. If so, what is the minimum diameter needed for the cylinders? It is important that the columns do not "drastically" change the behavior of the larvae.
Thanks for your help...
Dina M. Leech [log in to unmask] Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA 18015 Office #:(610) 758-3695
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