Muscle Aerobic Capacity and Filleting Yield of Farmed Fish Species in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract: In the present work, we compared indices of metabolism and feed conversion efficiency of a semi benthic and two pelagic mari-cultured fish species in the Mediterranean Sea. The metabolism of fish species varies according to habitat and ecophysiological adaptations. For example, with increasing depth, some species may exhibit adaptations to lower temperature and hypoxic conditions with a reduction in mass specific metabolic rate. Meagre (Argyrosomus regius) is a semi-benthic fish found at depths between 30 m and 300 m. Sea bass (Dicentrarhus labrax) and gilthead sea bream (Sparus auratus) are semi-pelagic fish species widely cultivated in the Mediteranean Sea. The aerobic metabolic potential and feed conversion efficiency of meagre were very different from the sea bass and gilthead sea bream. Compared to these two semic-pelagic fish species, meagre exhibited less efficient feed conversion rate, fillet yield. The results provide an estimate of the quantity of fish required to produce 1 kg of fillet weight, an estimation which is required for the operational management of fish processing companies and for estimating the wastes of fish processing factories during filleting