Re: NANFA-- brook stickleback?

Bonnie Ullmann (ullmann_at_uoneuro.uoregon.edu)
Thu, 28 Sep 2000 11:55:48 -0700

I haven't confirmed this with big enough numbers yet but
preliminary data suggest that the growth rate of 3-spines is linear
from fertilization to the pre-bony plate larval stage. Then the
growth rate seems to level off when the juvenile fish starts to add
the bony plates. In full armored 3-spines, the bony plates are huge,
covering the whole dorsal to ventral area right behind the gills and
getting progressively smaller (still along the lateral line), then
larger again at the posterior. A pretty heavy investment in energy
must go to the plate development. I don't know yet if the growth rate
changes once the plates are finished growing. I wonder if we added
even more calcium to their diet if that would affect their growth
rate? Worth a try, huh?
By the way, our resident expert in collecting Alaskan
sticklebacks just told me that the tape worms they are prone to
getting don't persist more than one life cycle in an aquarium. The
worm has 3 vectors: a bird, daphnia or other small water creature and
the fish. The fish gets the critter from eating the daphnia which ate
the worm eggs. The worm causes a complete loss of pigment in the
fish. The fish dies and gets eaten worm and all by the bird, who
sheds the worm segments in excrement that gets eaten by the daphnia.
So, the cycle gets interrupted in the tank...no more problem.

bonnie

>In a message dated 9/25/00 7:31:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>ullmann_at_uoneuro.uoregon.edu writes:
>
><< I wonder if they critters with lots of bony plates and spines
> appreciate the extra calcium they might get from snail shells? >>
>
>I would think they would. That's why I was saying that they could very well
>possibly suffice for stickleback keepers who want their fish to be able to
>keep weight on, instead of wasting away like many people have said that their
>fish have done.
>
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