RNA‐DNA ratio as an index to growth in salmonid fishes in the laboratory and in streams contaminated by carbaryl

Free nucleotides, RNA, and DNA were extracted from fish white muscle and analysed by a two‐wavelength ultraviolet (UV) absorbance technique to determine their relation to growth rates in brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis , and Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar . In the laboratory, fish given ample feed...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Fish Biology
Main Authors: Wilder, I. B., Stanley, J. G.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1983
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1983.tb04737.x
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1095-8649.1983.tb04737.x
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1983.tb04737.x
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Summary:Free nucleotides, RNA, and DNA were extracted from fish white muscle and analysed by a two‐wavelength ultraviolet (UV) absorbance technique to determine their relation to growth rates in brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis , and Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar . In the laboratory, fish given ample feed had higher growth rates than fish on restricted rations, and these growth rates were significantly correlated with RNA‐DNA ratios. Wild brook trout from natural streams had higher average RNA‐DNA ratios than those in the laboratory. Exposure of brook trout in one of the streams to low levels of the insecticide carbaryl (Sevin) that drifted from the spraying of nearby forests did not reduce RNA‐DNA ratios.