Growth models of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) for aquaculture: A review

• Published Sparus aurata growth information is critically reviewed.
• Models for growth management require response to fish size, temperature and feed.
• In the practical range, a linear response to temperature and feed is satisfactory.
• A simplified ‘standard’ growth model based on the available information is proposed.
• Tuning of the ‘standard’ model for a particular facility can be realized in situ.

Gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) is a fish commonly cultivated in the Mediterranean sea in marine cages and recirculating aquaculture systems. Managing such growing systems, requires a growth model to describe the response of the fish to their environment. The dominant predictors of growth, assuming adequate water quality, are fish size, M, water temperature, T, and feed ration, F  . Over the past 30 years many experimental studies with gilthead sea bream have been conducted, each providing partial information regarding the growth function G{M,T,F,…}GM,T,F,….In this study an attempt is made to critically review the available information from an aquacultural management point of view, selecting simple sub-models which preserve the essentials of the various processes. It seems that for the practical range of application for gilthead sea bream (first two years of life and sub-optimal (<25 °C) temperatures), growth is exponentially dependent on body size and linearly dependent on both temperature and feed ration. A representative growth model with these features, calibrated with the available data, is proposed. Unlike the more sophisticated, two-term bioenergetic models, the suggested model consists of just one multiplicative term. Final calibration of the growth model for any particular facility may be achieved by on-line adaptation of a few of the model parameters.