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Diel feeding and gastric evacuation of the golden galaxias (Galaxias auratus)
Stuart-Smith, R.D. and Barmuta, L.
School of Zoology, University of Tasmania, G.P.O. box 252-05, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001.
Email: rstuarts@utas.edu.au
Stomach contents were used to determine whether there were any patterns in the timing of feeding by the golden galaxias, which is endemic in Lakes Crescent and Sorell, Tasmania. Golden galaxias were captured at 3 hr intervals over a 24 hr period on 3 separate occasions during summer 2002/2003. They were killed by anaesthetic overdose and stomachs were dissected. The rate of gastric evacuation was determined in the laboratory using the same prey as that found in field samples, and at the same temperatures as those recorded in the field at the time of sampling. The process involved feeding known numbers of prey to individual fish, each pre-prandially starved for 48 hours. Fish were then killed at pre-determined intervals and stomach contents were dried and weighed. The dry weight of stomach contents from the field sampled fish and the gastric evacuation relationship obtained in the laboratory will be used to calculate feeding rates for each three hour interval, and thus determine whether the feeding of this fish is most intense at any particular time(s) of day.
Room 1 Thursday 1.30 pm
