Food consumption, standard metabolism, and growth of juvenile snakehea
d, Channa striatus, a cannibalistic and air-breathing fish were measur
ed at 24-26 degrees C under controlled laboratory condition. Snakehead
weighing 3.2-29.5 g were evaluated, and were fed smaller snakehead. B
ased on our observations, we determined bioenergetics relationships be
tween specific food consumption, metabolic rates, and body weight. The
se values, along with other published parameter values allowed us to c
onstruct a bioenergetics model for snakehead. We then verified our mod
el with growth and food consumption measurements from an independent f
eeding trial. Predicted fish growth closely matched observed growth. O
ur model underestimated cumulative food consumption when a constant ac
tivity value was used, but consumption estimates improved when we used
nonconstant activity values (1-5 times of standard metabolism). Predi
cted fish maintenance ration was 1.7% of body weight per day. Food con
version efficiency was greatest (0.59) when fed 2% body weight daily,
but declined when daily consumption exceeded 6% body weight. This mode
l provides a useful approach for assessing food requirements of snakeh
ead under controlled condition.