| We evaluated the influence of water temperature (Tw) on the energy acquisition and use in the chilean silverside Basilichthys australis (Eigenmann 1927), an endemic species inhabiting freshwater ecosystems in Chile. We tested the effect of Tw (11.5, 14.0, 18.0, 22.0 and 26.0 °C) on food intake, digestibility, food transit time and metabolic rate. As expected, this study demonstrated that many physiological variables under study were significantly affected by Tw, as well as the net energy balance of this species. Nevertheless, the net energy balance was not strictly related to the range of Tws evaluated. At Tws lower than 14 °C the energy budget was depressed, because food intake was lower than at Tws between 14 and 26 °C, where food intake was higher and... |
