Question 2: Would these fingerlings could be a good test for the theory concerning fish that lose growth in their early life cycle have a reduced growth rate, even if they are subsequently placed into a favorable environment?
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Any thoughts?
Should be a great test.
There is evidence that periods of starvation lead to better feed conversion. Eric has mentioned this many times describing it as compensatory feeding (the scientific description of the feeding technique). So in essence, a fish "compensates" for not having been fed for one period by increasing its consumption (relative to body weight) in the next period.
I have often wondered whether the reason big headed stunted fish got that way by being bigger and experiencing atrophy or whether the energy consumed preferentially grows the head. Considering arguments from both sides my hunch is that atrophy is the most likely cause. When a fish does not eat, it uses itself as food to meet its metabolic requirements.
Fish that atrophy grow allometrically (proportion growth in the three dimensions) where continued growth continues to reflect the period of earlier starvation. Now that said. Growth is a mathematical function and so this doesn't mean that their growth rates will not exceed that of comparable length fish that did not earlier experience starvation. There is start weight and an end weight from which the growth is calculated. So a fish that looks in bad condition at the start probably won't look "quite right" after a grow out even if its specific growth rate and conversion exceeded that of the other normal looking fish.
When working with fish that are in a stunted condition, the expectation should be adjusted to the situation. Yes, one can get great growth from them in a grow out and produce food economically. However, one shouldn't expect this growth to undo the morphology that earlier arose from starvation. A stunted LMB pond isn't going to grow a trophy from existing aged and stunted fish. But one thing I can say is this. If 9" stunted LMB are moved to a pond with GSF and no LMB competition in September ... they can grow to 13 to 14 inches by the following April. I know this because I did it. That's remarkable when considering that they increased in weight at least 3 fold over the cooler half of the year.
