The cause of this was a significantly higher amount of the energy intake used to fuel metabolism in fish reared in 20 kg m−3 compared to fish reared in 80 and 140 kg m−3,
resulting in ametabolic cost of growth (p ≤ 0.05) significantly higher for fish reared in 25 kgm−3 than for fish reared in 80 kgm−3 (p≤0.05) or in 140 kg m−3 (p ≤ 0.05).