A new coefficient for evaluation of condition of fish larvae.
Piotr Sarnowski, Barbara Jezierska.
University
of Podlasie,
Dept. of Animal Physiology, 08110 Siedlce,
Prusa 12, Poland, e-mail jezbar@ap.siedlce.pl
Abstract: We
propose a new coefficient for evaluation
of condition of fish larvae, based
on fish body measurements in photographs, as an alternative
to Fulton's
coefficient. The study was done on young stages of common carp kept under laboratory conditions. The obtained results show that in the first period after hatching,
carp larvae grow mostly in length,
and adverse environmental factors
such as water contamination with copper may reduce their growth. The new
coefficient is calculated according to the formula:
S=2Pa´l-2, where Pa – body perimeter area,
l – body length.
The values of this new coefficient
increase with fish age, and are always
higher for the control larvae (0.26-0.43) than for the copper-exposed ones
(0.24-0.36). Having body perimeter area, it is also
possible to calculate the regression equation for the area/mass relationship, and to estimate the value of Fulton’s coefficient.
Keywords:
Fulton’s
coefficient, fish, condition, growth, copper
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