Young-of-the-year fish growth model
Mooij and Van Tongeren (1990) used a differential
equation to describe growth as a function of food
conditions, size and temperature:
dWt
dt
¼ aWb
t ðTt cÞ ð2Þ
in which W represents fresh weight (g), T temperature
(°C), t time (days) and a, b and c are parameters. The
parameter a represents the absolute growth rate of a fish of
1 g at a temperature of 1 °C above a threshold temperature
parameter c and thus can be considered as an index of
food availability. At water temperatures below the
threshold temperature parameter c, weight is assumed to
be constant. The parameter b describes the decrease of the
growth rate with increase in weight. To convert the
observed fork length into weights we applied the simple
length–weight relation W=xLy.