The use of whole‐body sodium, potassium and calcium content to identify the nutrient status of first year salmon fry

Samples of fed and unfed hatchery reared Atlantic salmon fry and parr were analysed for body water and whole body Na, K and Ca content. From these body parameters it is possible to estimate the relative proportions of the skeletal mass, and intra- and extracellular spaces. These data can be applied to estimating the nutritional status of parr sampled at random from hatchery, and possibly from wild populations. When fish with a dry weight of about 25 and 70 mg were deprived of artificial food for 27 and 21 days, respectively, the Na/K ratio rose to 0.59 and 0.80 compared with 0.37 in the controls. With fish of about 475 mg in weight, percentage water content was a better indicator of undernourishment. The use of the K+: Ca2+ ratio to compare the amount of cellular material with the skeletal mass was a good indicator of nutritional depletion, especially in smaller fish.

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