SEA BASS (DICENTRARCHUS-LABRAX) LARVAE FED DIFFERENT ARTEMIA RATIONS - GROWTH, PANCREAS ENZYMATIC RESPONSE AND DEVELOPMENT OF DIGESTIVE FUNCTIONS

Sea bass larvae were fed different rations of 1-day-old Artemia from d ay 16 until day 38: satiation (R1), one-half (R1/2), one-quarter (R1/4 ) and one-eighth (R1/8) of the satiation ration. Survival was not sign ificantly different among the four groups; the higher the ration, the greater the growth. In the pancreatic segment, trypsin activity was di rectly related to food ration, whereas amylase activity was inversely proportional. Trypsin secretion increased with age earlier in R1 and R 1/2 groups than in the two highly restricted groups. R1/8 maintained a high level of leucine-alanine peptidase (an intestinal cytosolic pept idase), The preservation at day 38 of high amylase and leucine-alanine peptidase levels, in highly restricted larvae, indicates a delay in t he development of the adult mode of digestion.