Gut evacuation of walleye pollock larvae in response to feeding conditions

Gut residence times of first‐feeding walleye pollock larvae were measured at 6°C in continuous and discontinuous feeding regimes. Larvae fed tagged copepod prey evacuated their guts more quickly in continuous feeding as compared to the discontinuous feeding treatment. The mean gut residence time was estimated to be 5.0 h for larvae feeding continuously. Gut evacuation by larvae fed tagged prey and then isolated without food (discontinuous treatment) was slower and more variable, with an estimated gut residence time exceeding 8.0 h. Field and laboratory observations suggest that the larval fish gut may be modeled as an intermittent plug‐flow reactor (PFR) in response to diel feeding patterns. The cyclical nature of gut dynamics has implications for gut content analyses and the estimation of daily food rations.