The Effects of Different Cycles of Starvation and Refeeding on Growth and Body Composition on European Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax)

This study was designed to investigate the effects of starvation and refeeding cycles on growth performance and body chemical composition of juvenile sea bass. For this purpose, a total of 720 juveniles with an initial mean weight (IW) of 5.85 +/- 0.54 g were divided into 12 tanks (400 L) in triplicate groups. During the period of the experiment, the control group (C) was fed to satiation three times a day. The feeding regimes of the other three groups were designed as follows: 2 days starvation / 8 days satiation (G1) (5 cycles), 5 days starvation / 20 days satiation (G2) (2 cycles) and 10 days starvation / 40 days satiation (G3) (1 cycle). After 50 days, only group G1 demonstrated partial compensatory growth. The difference between the final weights (FW) of groups was found statistically significant (P<0.05). Specific growth rates (SGR) of fasting groups were lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). G1group was determined to have the best values of feed conversion ratio (FCR) and economic conversion ratio (ECR). Hepatosomatic index (HSI) did not differ significantly between groups (P>0.05). Total fat (TF) was lowest in G3 (P<0.05). The partial compensation by group G1 presents possibilities for economic optimization.