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Do cannibalistic fish forage optimally? An experimental studyof prey size preference, bioenergetics of cannibalism and their ontogenetic variations inthe African catfish Heterobranchus longifilis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 November 2014

Etienne Baras ,
Rémi Dugué  and
Marc Legendre
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Abstract

This study relied on the day-by-day analysis of bioenergetics and prey size preference inisolated cannibals of the African catfish Heterobranchus longifilis(13–57 mm standard length, 3–500 mg dry body mass, n = 153) that were offeredad libitum conspecific prey of adequate sizes in small-sized (2-L)environments under controlled conditions (12L:12D, 30 °C). In these conditions, cannibals ofincreasing body size selected preferentially prey of decreasing size relative to theirown, and increasingly closer to the optimal prey size (producing the highest grossconversion efficiency). The role of experience in cannibalism was found of secondaryimportance relative to body size, both as regards food intake and prey size selectivity.These results indicate that in environments that minimize the escape capacities of theirpotential victims, as applies to most aquacultural contexts, fish exercising cannibalismtend to forage optimally, which has rarely been evidenced for piscivorous behaviour. Thepresent study further highlights that H. longifilis possesses a very highcapacity for growth, which originates from the combination of high food intake and veryhigh conversion efficiency, and makes this species of utmost interest for aquaculturistswherever fast growth is desirable, but also extremely prone to cannibalism whereverfeeding schedules are inadequate.

Keywords

Cannibalismfreshwater aquaculturefishprey size preferencedaily food intakegross conversion efficiencyclariid
Type
Research Article
Information
Aquatic Living Resources , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , April 2014 , pp. 51 - 62
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, IFREMER, IRD 2014

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