Gastric emptying in Scyliorhinus canicula (L.): a comparison of Surface-dependent and non-surface dependent models

Abstract

The usefulness of both surface-dependent and non-surface-dependent models for describing the gastric emptying process in Scyliorhinus canicula (L.) was examined. In most cases the surface-dependent models produced better fits than did the non-surface-dependent models. The exponential model (non-surface-dependent) only adequately described gastric evacuation in the case of small prey items with thin exoskeletons. On the other hand, the exponential model was clearly better than the linear model in all cases. Prey size had little effect on digestion rate. However, the number of prey items ingested was an important factor influencing digestion.