Effects of short-term starvation and re-feeding on some growth indices and structure of the liver and intestine tissues in juvenile Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus Borodin, 1897)

Currently, exploiting the different feeding strategies and feed deprivation has become a major issue for aquaculture management. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of short-term starvation and re-feeding on structural changes of the liver and intestine of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus). 120 fish with an average weight of 146/5±16/01 g were exposed to four different feeding strategies in separated tanks; Ctrl (continuous feeding); SRF1 (Four alternating periods of two days of starvation and 8 days of refeeding after each starvation periods), SRF2 (two alternating periods of four days of starvation and 16 days of refeeding after each starvation periods), and SRF2 (a period of eight days of starvation and 32 days of refeeding immediately after starvation). The results indicate that the growth performance in Persian sturgeon can significantly be affected by the starving and re-feeding strategies. As the Hepatic and gastrointestinal indices in experimental treatments showed a decreasing trend, and the lowest survival rate occurred during SRF3 treatment. Moreover, during the SRF3 treatment there can be seen a significant increase in the thickness of the lamina propria and submucosa of the intestine as well as a slight reduction in the volume of glycogen and fat vacuoles in hepatocytes. Generally, it can be concluded that the digestive capacity of the juvenile Persian sturgeon could be recovered after SRF1 and SRF2 treatments without any negative impact on growth performance, or any histological changes in liver and intestine tissues.