Gastrointestinal transit of dry diet in Salminus brasiliensis

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate gastric transit time and sequence of repletion and depletion of Salminus brasiliensis gastrointestinal organs. One hundred fish (38.8±7.6 g) were kept in 20 cages (60 L) under 24.8±0.2ºC, and fed on practical feed, added of 1% Cr₂O₃. Every 60 minutes from the first feeding, five fish were sacrificed and it was verified the location of the digest in the gastrointestinal tract. From the second hour after the feeding, gradual reduction of the stomach content and subsequent presence of digest in the intestine were observed. This pattern was kept constant until the 16^th hour. One and two hours later stomach and intestine were totally empty, respectively.