Indeterminate Growth of Fish

by Keisha Bahr

Submitted : Spring 2010

After the goldfish became popular, many studies developed regarding their health and welfare. The common goldfish is an indeterminate grower with their growth rate varying in response to many factors, such as: water quality, unnatural habitats, stocking densities, and available nutrition. This project analyzes size versus growth rate for individual goldfish and those living within in a group. A goldfish in solitude will have a slightly higher growth rate than a goldfish living in a group. This conclusion was drawn from the Von Bertalanffy equation and its first derivative, which was used to determine age-length relationship based on growth rate. The first derivative showed growth rate to be a decreasing function of goldfish age/size.

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