Self-feeding activity patterns in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata), red porgy (Pagrus pagrus) and their reciprocal hybrids

This study was conducted to monitor feeding activity of gilthead sea bream (Sa) and red porgy (Pp) and to investigate the hereditary effects on feeding in their hybrids (female Sa×male Pp, female Pp×male Sa), obtained after artificial crosses. All fish groups were held in 500-l tanks under ambient temperature (15–25°C) and light conditions (daylength from 9 h 30 min to 14 h 48 min). Fish (initial body weight 100–165 g) were fed by means of self-feeders, which were connected to a computer, recording fish feeding activity for a year. Results showed that there was a 24-h periodicity in all fish types over the experiment. In their daily feeding patterns, both parental species were diurnal: red porgies had a stable daily pattern over the experiment, while gilthead sea bream shifted their activity from a general daylight fluctuation in warm periods to an afternoon peak in cold periods. The Sa×Pp hybrids showed intermediate feeding patterns compared to their parents in warm periods and a pattern that was similar to the red porgy in cold periods, while the Pp×Sa hybrids had rather unchangeable daily feeding patterns, which were not related to the parental ones. The proportion of night feed demands increased in cold periods independent of fish group. The relationship between temperature and feed intake was species-dependent. Finally, this study indicated that feeding expression in hybrids was related to the combination of the parental genome, supporting our hypothesis for a hereditary influence on feeding activity in fish.