EFFECTS OF BODY WEIGHT AND WATER TEMPERATURE ON THE MAXIMUM RATION LEVELS OF MONOPTERUS ALBUS

The paper studied the effects of body weight and temperature on the maximum ration levels of ricefield eels by food-balance method indoors.At temperature of 20℃,the maximum food consumption increased but the maximum ration levels decreased along with the increase of body weight from 4.77 to 144.65g.The correlation between the maximum food consumption and body weight(g) was Cmax(g/d·per fish)=5.86×10-2W0.46,and the correlation between the maximum ration levels(J/g·d) and body weight was RLmax(J/g·d)=611.74W-0.54.Temperature(11-38℃) influenced RLmax significantly while the initial body weight of 13-21g had no significant effect on RLmax,and the regression equation between RLmaxand temperature(℃) was RLmax(J/g·d)=418.56-80.78t+4.73t2-0.074t3.The optional temperature was 30.8℃ at which the ricefield eel had the maximum appetite of 255.46 J/g.d.At the same time,the lowest temperature of food intake and lethal temperature of ricefield eels in Nanjing was 8℃ and 40℃ respectively,which was observed for the first time.By the equation of RLmax(J/g·d)=(1526.49-294.60t+17.25t2-0.27t3)W-0.54,the maximum ration levels of ricefield eels imposed on different body weights and temperatures could be estimated.