Compensatory Growth in Juvenile Freshwater Turtles, Chinemys reevesii, Following Feed Deprivation

The compensatory growth response of juvenile three-keeled pond turtles, Chinemys reevesii, was investigated by food deprivation for 1–4 wk and then refeeding for 4 wk. After feeding resumed, only turtles that were deprived over 2 wk displayed higher specific growth rates than the continuously fed turtles for 1 wk, but their weights were lower than the control at the end of refeeding, showing a partial compensatory growth pattern. Their feeding rate, rather than the feed conversion efficiency and apparent digestibility of energy, was higher than the control during the compensatory phase, indicating that hyperphagia was responsible for the compensatory growth. As starvation intensified, protein concentrations of deprived turtles increased significantly, whereas the contents of fat tissues decreased sharply. After 4 wk of refeeding, the contents of fat tissues in deprived turtles returned to the control level, whereas protein concentrations did not, indicating that lipid rather than protein was the main fuel utilized during short-term starvation for juvenile turtles aged over 2 mo.