Influences of Temperature and Density on the Feeding Growth, and Blind-side Malpigmentation of Fry Starry Flounder Platichthys stellatus

강도다리(Platichthys stellatus) 치어의 섭식, 성장 및 흑화 발현에 있어 온도와 밀도의 영향

To examine the influences of water temperature and stocking density on feeding, growth and blind-side hypermelanosis of the starry flounder Platichthys stellatus, we performed an experiment with fry at two densities: 2 and 8 fish/L. The fry had a total length of $3.2{\pm}0.1cm$, body weight $0.6{\pm}0.1g$, and pigmented patches (pigmented ratio $2.6{\pm}0.4%$) on the blind side. Duplicate experiments were conducted in 93.7 L glass tanks for 120 days, from July to November. We determined daily food intake (DFI), food efficiency (FE), growth, survival rate, ratio of hypermelanic fish, and pigmented area rate on the blind side at 60-day intervals. The DFI was less than 50 mg/fish/day, and growth was delayed from July to September (water temperature [WT]> $20^{\circ}C$). After October, when WT < $20^{\circ}C$, the DFI increased significantly and the growth was accelerated, suggesting that the rearing temperature of starry flounder in artificial facilities should be < $20^{\circ}C$. While the FE, and survival did no differ between the two density groups, DFI and growth were significantly higher at 2 fish/L than at 8 fish/L. There was no difference in the pigmented area ratio between the two density groups. Although the hypermelanosis was not correlated with body size, the malpigmentation increased with growth. These results suggest that a high stocking density is not the main cause of blind-side hypermelanosis, although it can accelerate hypermelanosis in the starry flounder.