Evaluating the relationship between the growth of fish and energy component of their prey

Abstract Fish growth analysis is a fundamental part of research in fisheries biology, aquaculture, and physiology. However, there is the question of whether the addition of mass and length depends on the amount of energy a prey can deliver. This study tested the hypothesis that there is an effect on the length/weight ratio of the predator, under the premise that fish that ingest prey with a greater amount of energy will have greater mass growth, in contrast to those that ingest food with lesser energy. The fish in this experiment was under controlled laboratory conditions under two types of food treatment and one control (low energy vs high energy amount). The energy-rich treatment had a significant effect on the mass increase (GLM; F = 2.72; P = 0.031), and the length/weight ratio was greater in the fish under the energy-rich treatment (ANCOVA; F = 3.59; P = 0.043). However, the IGR showed that fish presented low rates of intrinsic size growth (ANOVA; F = 0.189; P = 0.828).