EFFECT OF FEEDING RATE AND WATER TEMPERATURE ON GROWTH OF JUVENILE WHITE STURGEON (ACIPENSER-TRANSMONTANUS)

A 2 X 4 factorial experiment was conducted for 8 weeks to determine th e effect of feeding rate and water temperature on the growth performan ce of 30-g-size white sturgeon. Body weight increase (BWI) and feed ef ficiency (FE) were significantly (P < 0.05) higher at 23 than 26-degre es-C when the sturgeon were fed at the same rate. BWI, FE and body lip id content were significantly elevated with increasing feeding rates. There were no significant interactions between water temperature and f eeding rate for all measurements. The optimum temperature for sturgeon growth appears to be closer to 23 than 26-degrees-C, and the optimum feeding rates at 23 and 26-degrees-C were 2.0-2.5% and 2.5-3.0% body w eight/day, respectively.