DIGESTIVE RATE IN FISH

By :
Name : Isnaeni Rachmawati
Student ID : B1B017036
Group :1
Subgroup : II
Assistant : Sri Mulyani

LABORATORY REPORT OF ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY II

MINISTRY OF RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY AND HIGHER EDUCATION

FACULTY OF BIOLOGY
JENDERAL SOEDIRMAN UNIVERSITY
PURWOKERTO

2018
 I. INTRODUCTION

A. Background
Digestion is an important early step in order taking food by the body. Nutrients
of macromolecules and molecules that are still quite large need to be digested first into
small molecules so that they can be absorbed by the body through the intestinal wall.
The digestive system is a winding pipe that starts from the mouth, stomach, intestine
to the anus. The stomach or gastric is a sac located in the left abdominal cavity. The
longest part of the digestive tract is the small intestine consisting of duodenum
(duodenum jar), jejunum (empty intestine) and ileum (intestinal absorption)
(Sumardjo, 2006).
The process of digestion can be called the process of emptying the stomach. The
process of fish digestion starts from the stomach (in fish that have a stomach) and
continues to the intestine which ends in the drainage of leftover material. The process
of digestion starts from the food into the mouth, digests mechanically and is assisted
by the salivary gland to then enter the pharynx, esophagus and stored in the stomach
to be digested chemically with the help of digestive enzymes. Foods that have become
small molecules then enter the intestine for absorption, and the remaining goes to the
rectum and to the anus to be removed. The result of digestion in the form of amino
acids, fatty acids and monosaccharides will be absorbed by the intestine epithelial and
then circulated throughout the body by the circulatory system (Gumisriza, 2009).
Measuring the speed of digestion in fish can be done by measuring the density
of food in the stomach (gastric weight). Temperature, food particle size, and
experimental methods strongly oppose the results of measurements of gastric weight.
Increasing air temperature will increase the speed of fish digestion in certain species
(Wurtsbaugh, 1993).

B. Purpose
The purpose of this lab activity is to see the digestion rate or the rate of gastric
emptying on fish.
 II. MATERIALS AND METHODS

A. Materials

The materials that used in this practical lab activity are Catfish (Clarias
gariepinus) and pellets.
The tools that used in this practical lab activity are specimen tray, analytical
scale, dissection kit, and aquarium.

B. Methods
1. The aquarium is prepared and filled with water as high as 25 cm and
aeration are given.
2. The fish is dispersed in the aquarium,
3. The pellet in amount 2,5% of total body weight is given, and the fish
is left to consume the fed for 15 minutes.
4. The total body weight of fish is measured.
5. The fish is dissected to take the gastric and weighted it as 0 minutes
after feeding (Bx).
6. The 4 & 5 steps are repeated after 30 minutes (By) and 60 minutes
(Bz).
 III. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

A. Result
Table 3.1. Result of Digestion Rate on Catfish
X (0’) Y (30’) Z (60’)
Group
Bx (gr) Bx (%) By (gr) By (%) Bz (gr) Bz (%)
1 0,85 0,85 1,2 1,17 1,2 1,2
2 1,71 1,57 1,21 1,08 1,41 1,4
3 1,07 1,17 1,29 1,29 1,64 1,47
4 1,36 1,39 1,04 1,21 0,80 1,48

Calculation of Group 1
𝑩𝒙
𝑩𝒙 % = 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎%
𝑩𝒙𝒕
0,85
0′ = 𝑥 100% = 0,85%
99
𝑩𝒚
𝑩𝒚 % = 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎%
𝑩𝒚𝒕
1,2
30′ = 𝑥 100% = 1,17%
102
𝑩𝒛
𝑩𝒛 % = 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎%
𝑩𝒛𝒕
1,2
60′ = 𝑥 100% = 1,2%
100
B. Discussion

Digestion is a process of breaking down food from large molecules into simple
molecules, into various forms such as proteins, fatty acids, glycerol and other nutrients
that beneficial to the body of the fish. The substances needed will be absorbed by fish
through the blood, while the rest of unneeded waste will be discarded from the body
(Murtidjo, 2001). Digestion rate is a high speed of food processing in the body from
macromolecules into micro molecules, so that the food will be easier absorbed by body
for metabolic purpose. Digestive process can be done through chemical or mechanical
process. After an emulsion or feed is ingested by the fish, its molecular composition
and structural organization undergo a series of changes as it passes through
gastrointestinal tract (Chang & McClements, 2016). Mechanic digestion is using tooth
or muscle system, and the organs are such as mouth and esophagus. As for chemical
digestion is involving enzymes that responsible for metabolism (such as protease,
lipase and carbohydrase), as catalysator to speed up the rate itself (Sun et al., 2018).).
The process of digestion that occurs in the stomach can be done by studying
the rate of gastric emptying. Gastric is the main organ involved in the digestive
process, filtering food that enters the body, neutralizing toxins in food, and removing
substances that are not useful to the body (Elliot, 1997). In addition to being influenced
by temperature, the digestion rate is also influenced by the feed consumed. Because in
the feed consumed by fish there are many mineral contents that will be absorbed by
their intestine. Varied fish feeds will affect the rate of digestion known by the rate of
gastric emptying in fish (Marshall, 1980).
Factors that influence the rate of digestion in fish include internal and external
factors. Internal factors include age, body size, activity, stress, and gender. External
factors include turbidity (on visibility and O2 content), food, and chemical factors in
the waters (O2, CO2, H2S, Ph, and alkalinity). Usually the higher the fish activity, the
more energy will be needed so that the metabolic process is high and requires foods
that are of a much better and more abundant quality (Kay, 1998). Efficiency of feed
utilization will be optimal if the environmental conditions are in normal conditions, so
that the digestive process in the digestive tract of fish will be more efficient. This
causes the body cells to stand in ideal conditions, so that the physiological processes
in the body of the fish will run normally. The amount of feed that can be consumed by
fish per day is one of the factors that influence the potential of fish to grow optimally
and the level of daily feed consumption is closely related to gastric capacity and
emptying (Purnamawati et al., 2017). The temperature also highly effects the digestion
rate. This is because all organisms have lethal limits to their temperature range, and
also have optimal temperatures for development of structure and function (Mazumder
et al., 2015).
The function of feed for fish is as the energy source for their development,
specifically for their metabolism process and to maintain their lives, also to repair
damaged cells. The main importance of feed is to supply energy resource, therefore
metabolism can function properly. Digestion rate is generally correlated with the
metabolic rate of fish. The longer the time, the stomach content will decrease so that
the body weight of fish also decreases. Gastric emptying rate is also affected by the
food consumed by fish. If digested feed comes from vegetable feed, then the rate of
gastric emptying will depend on how much the fish eats those vegetable feed, because
those foods from plant extracts contain cell walls that composed of cellulose so that it
will be difficult to digest, whereas in feed derived from animals the digestive process
will be easier (Lagler, 1977). The different digestive system development is closely
related to the feed eaten by each species of fish, in which also related to different life
cycle (Santos et al., 2016).
Catfish digestive system (Clarias gariepinus) starts from the mouth, oral
cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach/gastric, pylorus, intestine, rectum and anus. The
anatomical structure of fish mouth is closely related to how to get food. There are
tentacles around the mouth of the catfish which act as detectors of food and these are
found in fish that are actively looking for food at night. The oral cavity in catfish is
enveloped by mucus-producing cells that facilitate the passage of food into the next
segment, also there is a taste organ which functions to select food. Pharynx in fish
(filter feeder) serves to filter food, because the gills point to the pharynx so non-food
material will be discharged through the gill gap (Fujaya, 2002).
Based on the data obtained from practical activity, the average percentage of
gastric emptying rate of fish in 0 minute is 1,24%, in 30 minutes is 1,18% and in 60
minutes is 1,38% for the 2,5% amount of feed given from the total body weight. It can
be seen from the biomass of fish gastric, that the rate of gastric emptying is not
statically decrease nor increase, but dynamic. The digestion rate drops at 30 minutes
after given pellets but later at 60 minutes the rate increases again. This result is not in
accordance with the statement of Yuwono (2001), that the later the gastric measuring
time after being fed, the less the gastric weight will be. This is because the large
molecules of feed have been processed into smaller molecules by the gastric therefore
these micro molecules will be more absorbed by intestines.
 IV. CONCLUSION

Based on the result and discussion of this lab activity, it can be concluded that
digestive system is a process of breaking down macro molecules of nutrients into
micro-molecules to be absorbed by the body, and to know the digestive rate in fish can
be done by measuring the gastric emptying rate per determined time.
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