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Reanalysis of conversion efficiencies for larval Fundulus heteroclitus

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Abstract

The conversion efficiency (gross growth efficiency) of larval Fundulus heteroclitus fed newly hatched Artemia sp. nauplii was recently reported as the lowest observed (0.69 to 1.11%) for a fish. A recalculation of the efficiencies, based on data from Radtke and Dean, showed that the original determinations were in error by two orders of magnitude. The recalculated values (69.0 to 114.4%), however, are impossibly large and probably result from measurement error in the determination of the weight of a single prey individual (nauplius). Using a nauplius weight estimate from the literature, the conversion efficiencies were again recalculated. The new efficiencies (25 to 41%) agree with those reported for other fish species. The values are still higher than those reported elsewhere for adult F. heteroclitus, but this is consistent with the generalization that conversion efficiency decreases with age.

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Communicated by I. Morris, Durham

Contribution No. 422 of the University of Georgia Marine Institute

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Kneib, R.T. Reanalysis of conversion efficiencies for larval Fundulus heteroclitus . Mar. Biol. 63, 213–215 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406829

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