THE IMPACT OF RESTRICTED RATIONING UPON GROWTH, FOOD CONVERSION EFFICIENCY AND BODY-COMPOSITION OF RAINBOW-TROUT

Juvenile rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, maintained under commerci al conditions, were subjected to four different feeding regimes. Dupli cate groups of fish were fed to satiation 3 times/d for either 7, 3, 2 or 1 d/wk over a 10 wk period. At the end of the Vial, evaluations we re made of group growth performance, body composition, and feed conver sion efficiency (FCE). At the end of the experiment, no differences we re discerned between fish fed either daily or 3 times/wk with respect to growth, FCE or body composition. Animals placed upon the two lowest rations were significantly smaller (P<0.05) than those fed daily and exhibited decreased condition factors and body lipid levels (P<0.05) a nd increased moisture content (P<0.05). Food conversion was least effi cient in those fish provided the largest ration.