Compensatory Growth Responses in Aquatic Species

Compensatory growth is an accelerated growth phase that follows periods of limited nutrition or environmental stress in aquatic organisms. During the initial catabolic phase, endogenous energy reserves are mobilised, accompanied by shifts in endocrine signals that enhance appetite and spare protein. Once favourable conditions return, individuals enter a hyperanabolic phase marked by hyperphagia, increased feed conversion efficiency and rapid somatic growth that may restore or even surpass size deficits incurred during restriction. This response is widespread among fish and crustaceans and has been linked to enhanced ribosomal biogenesis, myofibre hypertrophy and shifts in hormonal axes involving growth hormone, insulin-like growth factors and appetite regulators. Compensatory growth carries considerable practical significance for aquaculture, offering strategies to optimise feed regimes, reduce production costs and improve carcass yield without long-term welfare compromise. Understanding species-specific variability in energetic allocation, molecular regulators and environmental dependencies is central to harnessing this phenomenon for sustainable fisheries and intensive cultivation systems.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have explored how the duration of early growth stunting influences later compensatory performance in milkfish. An intermediate stunting period produced full growth restitution, improved feed conversion and enhanced digestive enzyme activities during refeeding, yielding carcass nutrient profiles comparable or superior to continuously fed cohorts. Shorter or longer stunting durations led to incomplete compensation or reduced efficiency, demonstrating that optimally timed restriction and refeeding cycles can drive maximal growth rebound without adverse effects on survival or meat quality.

Compensatory Growth Responses in Aquatic Species publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in compensatory growth responses in aquatic species across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Compensatory growth: An accelerated growth phase following relief from growth-limiting conditions, allowing organisms to recover size deficits.

Hyperphagia: A temporary increase in food intake beyond normal levels, often observed during refeeding after starvation.

Hypertrophy: Enlargement of existing muscle fibres through increased synthesis of contractile proteins, contributing to mass gain during recovery growth.

Transcriptome profiling: High-throughput analysis of all RNA transcripts in a tissue, used to identify gene expression changes during atrophy and subsequent regrowth.

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs): Hormones that mediate cellular proliferation and protein synthesis, central to the hyperanabolic phase of compensatory growth.

References

1. Coding and Noncoding Genes Involved in Atrophy and Compensatory Muscle Growth in Nile Tilapia. Cells (2022).
2. Endocrine Regulation of Compensatory Growth in Fish. Frontiers in Endocrinology (2013).
3. Full compensatory growth before harvest and no impact on fish welfare in Atlantic salmon after an 8-week fasting period. Aquaculture (2022).
4. Duration of stunting impacts compensatory growth and carcass quality of farmed milkfish, Chanos chanos (Forsskal, 1775) under field conditions. Scientific Reports (2019).