Effects of starvation and recovery on the survival, growth and RNA/DNA ratio in loliginid squid paralarvae

The ability of Loligo opalescens paralarvae to resist and recover from starvation was examined by measuring their survival, growth rate and RNA/DNA ratios during starvation and refeeding. Paralarvae were fed Artemia sp. nauplii, zooplankton and mysid shrimp. Fourteen days after hatching they were separated into five feeding treatments: a control treatment (food was always available) and treatments starved for 2, 3, 4 and 5 days, and then refed. Each day, 5–7 paralarvae from each treatment were anesthetized to measure mantle length and wet weight (WW), and then RNA and DNA were extracted using an ethidium bromide fluorometric technique. Paralarvae did not survive 4 and 5 days of starvation, showing that at 15 days of age and at 16 °C the limit to recovery was 3 days of starvation. Paralarvae starved for 2 and 3 days showed compensatory growth that mitigated the effects of starvation, in that at the end of the experiment (10 days), they attained mean final body weights similar to the control treatment. Differences in the RNA/DNA ratios between control and starved paralarvae were detected within 2 days of food deprivation. For paralarvae starved 2 and 3 days, it took 1 day after refeeding to attain RNA/DNA ratios not significantly different from the control treatment. Additionally, RNA/DNA ratios were highest during the day (0800, 1200, 1600 h) and lowest at night (0000, 0400 h), suggesting daytime feeding activity. Growth rates ranged from − 14% to 21% WW day− 1 and the resulting equation between RNA/DNA ratio and growth rate (GR) of paralarvae was GR = 1.74 RNA/DNA − 11.79 (R2 = 0.70). After starvation, there was a reduction in growth variability in all starved treatments, while growth variability remained high in the control treatment. Findings from the present study indicate that nucleic acids are a valid indicator of nutritional condition and growth in squid paralarvae.