Effects of food ration and temperature level on the growth of Oreochromis niloticus (L.) and their otoliths

Sub-optimal conditions in terms of maintenance ration and/or low temperature resulted in otolith bands, with distinct microstructural features, in response to each particular condition. Check(s) were not only produced corresponding to the transition from optimal to the sub-optimal conditions but also from sub-optimal to the optimal ones. Daily increment deposition, although faint and narrow, persisted in the otoliths of fish when they were kept at low temperatures and fed on maximum food rations. Observable increments were produced only in the first few days of the period when fish were fed on maintenance rations at the optimal temperature. There were only a few checks formed in the otoliths of fish under the conditions of low temperature and maintenance rations. Restraining fish growth in each of the above sub-optimal conditions boosted the growth of the fish and their otoliths when optimal conditions resumed.