Feeding and Growth
During short-term acclimations, feeding was similar for FW controls, fish at 21g/kg, and at 55g/kg. Feeding decreased for both the short-term and long-term 85g/kg and 105g/kg treatments with complete cessation of feeding as the target salinity was reached. At 75g/kg, feeding dropped to near zero during the initial acclimation period but recovered to near the feeding rate of the handling control, although at end of the experiment feeding was still significantly lower (p = 0.0093) than the control (Figure 2C). Growth was measured biweekly only for the 75g/kg extended salinity experiment (Figure 2B). Control and treatment diverged significantly in weight after two weeks at 75g/kg (week 4 weighing). No significant growth was measured for the 75g/kg treatment from the time of reaching the final salinity until the end of the experiment. Overall, mean weight increased by 37% from the original weight in the 75g/kg treatment over 12 weeks from 3.756 g/fish to 5.173 g/fish. In comparison, the control treatment increased by 214% of the original weight from 3.933 g/fish to 12.37 g/fish.