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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 59(10)

Predicting the slope of the allometric scaling of consumption rates in fish using the physiology of growth

Rodrigo Wiff A B D and Rubén Roa-Ureta C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, The Observatory, Buchanan Gardens, St Andrews KY16 9LZ, Scotland, UK.

B División de Investigación Pesquera, Instituto de Fomento Pesquero, Blanco 839, Casilla 8v, Valparaíso, Chile.

C Departamento de Oceanografia, Universidad de Concepcion, PO Box 160-C, Concepción, Chile.

D Corresponding author. Email: rodrigo@mcs.st-and.ac.uk

Marine and Freshwater Research 59(10) 912-921 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF08053
Submitted: 27 February 2008  Accepted: 2 August 2008   Published: 27 October 2008

Abstract

Allometric scaling (where body size features as the independent variable) has been observed in many aspects of fish biology. Empirical studies have shown that individual and population rates of food consumption for single and multi-species datasets show positive allometry. However, the ratio of population consumption to biomass shows negative allometry when evaluated across species. In this paper, a theoretical explanation is proposed that predicts the magnitudes and signs of the allometric slopes for consumption and consumption/biomass within and among species. It is proposed that the ultimate cause of the allometries related to food consumption in fish lies in the physiology of growth. In the context of von Bertalanffy growth, the allometric slopes are caused by the constraints imposed on anabolism by the surfaces absorbing oxygen, by the volumetric relationship between linear body size and body mass, and by a dimensionless growth parameter.

Additional keywords: allometry, food assimilation, life-history parameters, scaling, surface law.


Acknowledgements

The first author is sincerely grateful to Luis A. Cubillos for encouraging him to explore this topic. We also thank Professor John Harwood for his contributions that greatly improved an earlier version of this manuscript. Rodrigo Wiff was supported by ‘Beca Presidente de la Republica para Estudios de Postgrado en el Extranjero. MIDEPLAN-CHILE’. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.


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