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Gastric evacuation (GE) experiments were performed on brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis fed commercial food pellets. The experiments included small fish (36 g; 15 cm total length, LT ) fed meals of 0·2, 0·4 and 0·8 g and large fish (152 g; 23 cm) fed meals of 0·8, 2·0 and 4·0 g at temperatures ranging from 15·1 to 18·2° C. The stomach contents were thereafter sampled and weighed at 3 h intervals until the first empty stomach was observed. The course of GE was examined by use of a general power function of the data that revealed that the square-root function described the GE rate (GER) by the current stomach content mass independently of original meal size. Using the square-root function, the relationship between GER and fish size was described by a power function of fish length, whereas the effect of temperature was described by a simple exponential function. GER of the commercial pellets fed to S. fontinalis could thus be described by dStdt=-0·000464L1·31e0·052TSt (g h(-1) ), where St is stomach mass (g) at time t (h), L is total fish length (cm) and T is temperature (° C). The result of this study should provide a useful tool for planning of feeding regimes in production of S. fontinalis by optimizing growth and minimizing food waste.

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The effects of meal and body sizes on gastric evacuation (GE) of brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill, 1814) were determined following group feeding instead of feeding individually maintained fish. The GE experiments included small (ranging from 64.75 to 69.72 g) and large fish (ranging from 161.59 to 170.95 g). Fish in each size group was fed with three different meal sizes under similar conditions. The stomach contents were then recovered at predetermined postprandial times by serial slaughtering. The square root model adequately described the course of GE in S. fontinalis independent of meal size. The estimates of mass and length exponent obtained from S. fontinalis fed individually are in line with the present estimates. The result of this study would facilitate the planning and management of feeding regimes for S. fontinalis to minimise food waste and optimise growth.

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