Annual rhythms of demand-feeding activity in sea bass: evidence of a seasonal phase inversion of the diel feeding pattern.

Seasonal changes in the phasing of diel feeding rhythms were investigated in sea bass held under natural conditions. Demand-feeding behavior was continuously monitored over a complete annual cycle in 10 groups of 15 fish maintained in an outdoors laboratory subjected to natural fluctuations of photoperiod (from 9.5h to 15h) and water temperature (from 13.2 degrees C to 27.4 degrees C). A double seasonal phase inversion was detected in all groups: fish that were diurnal in summer and in autumn changed to nocturnal in winter and returned to being diurnal in spring. Diurnal sea bass displayed a positive and stable phase relationship between the peak of the feeding phase and the daily acrophase of water temperature (phi l = 0.72h +/- 0.33h) and between the peak of the feeding phase and sunset (phi s = 2.94h +/- 0.53h), but both phi l and phi s became negative when sea bass shifted to nocturnalism in winter. The percentage of diurnal feeding behavior peaked in June (94.1%) and dropped in February (29.1%), following a cyclic dynamic modulated by both monthly photoperiod and water temperature. These results contribute to better understanding of the dual phasing behavior of sea bass, which exhibits diurnal or nocturnal behavior according to the time of the year so that flexibility in phasing may be advantageous for the fish to cope with seasonal changes in their environment.