The effects of hypoxia on growth, feed efficiency, nitrogen excretion, oxyg
en consumption and metabolism of juvenile turbot (120 g) were studied in a
45-day experiment carried out in sea water at 17.0 +/- 0.5 degrees C and 34
.5 ppt salinity. Fish were fed to satiation at O-2-concentrations of 3.5 +/
- 0.3, 5.0 +/- 0.3 mg l(-1) (hypoxia) and 7.2 +/- 0.3 mg l(-1) (normoxia).
Both feed intake (FI) and growth were significantly lower under hypoxia tha
n under normoxia, with no significant differences being observed between 3.
5 and 5.0 mg O-2 l(-1). During the first 2 weeks of the experiment, FI was
halved under hypoxic conditions, and there were large differences among tre
atments in feed conversion ratio (FCR), i.e., it was 3.2, 1.5, and 0.9 in t
urbot exposed to 3.5, 5.0, and 7.2 mg O-2 l(-1), respectively. Thereafter,
FCR was not significantly affected by O-2-concentration. Nitrogen excretion
and oxygen consumption of feeding fish were significantly higher under nor
moxia than under hypoxia, but following 7 days of feed deprivation oxygen c
onsumption was similar under normoxia and hypoxia. Plasma osmolarity, ionic
balance, and acid-base status were not affected by the two hypoxic conditi
ons tested. Overall, our results indicate that turbot have some capacity to
adapt to relatively low ambient O-2-concentrations. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scie
nce B.V. All rights reserved.