Gastric evacuation in plaice, <i>Pleuronectes platessa</i> L.: effects of temperature and meal size

Abstract

The pattern of gastric evacuation in the plaice can be described by a single curve of curvilinear form, relating the amount of food remaining in the stomach and the post‐prandial time. This curve can be transformed to linear form, conforming to a volume dependent model of evacuation. This allows the calculation of the time for complete evacuation of the stomach. The shape of the gastric evacuation curve is unchanged by the size of the meal fed. With increase in temperature however, the form of the curve does change, resulting in shorter times for complete evacuation.