GASTRIC EVACUATION RATES OF ADULT AND LARVAL ALPINE NEWTS (TRITURUS-ALPESTRIS) UNDER LABORATORY AND FIELD CONDITIONS

1. The fits of exponential, square root, surface-dependent and power e xponential polynomials to gastric evacuation curves in alpine newts we re compared. Both the more complex power exponential function and the exponential model provided good descriptions of gastric evacuation in adult and larval alpine newts. 2. Gastric evacuation rates of adult fe male and male alpine newts did not differ significantly. Temperature-d ependent gastric evacuation rates were strongly affected by the compos ition of the meals eaten in the natural habitat. The time for total ga stric evacuation in adults was generally longer than reported for tele ost fishes and was within the range reported for some elasmobranchs. 3 . Gastric evacuation rates of newt larvae were low compared to fish la rvae. Time for total emptying of the stomach increased exponentially w ith increasing body dry weight of larvae.