440 
Fishery Bulletin 95(3), 1997 
Age (days) 
Figure 4 
LDH activity (units/gWM) in red drum larvae raised in the laboratory and in growout 
ponds: (A) laboratory, 25°C and 0 prey/mL; (B) laboratory, 20°C and 5 prey/mL; (C) labora- 
tory, 25°C and 5 prey/mL; (D) pond, 25°C; and (E) pond, 32°C. 
duce LDH, although at lower concentrations than 
those for fed individuals, until death at day 6. Lar- 
vae reared at 20°C had LDH values of 20-25 units/ 
gWM at day 14. These LDH activities were slightly 
lower than those for larvae raised at 25°C, which had 
LDH values of between 30 and 35 units/gWM at day 
14. Larvae reared at 25°C in the ponds averaged LDH 
activities of 40-50 units/gWM, higher than the val- 
ues for larvae raised at 32°C, which averaged 25-30 
units/gWM, and higher than the values for larvae 
reared in the laboratory. 
Like RNA:DNA, LDH activity taken overall was 
only a modest predictor of protein growth rate: y (% 
per d) = -8.17 + 1.39 (LDH); P= 0.02; r 2 =0.39. How- 
ever, within a temperature, its performance as a pre- 
dictor was much improved. A regression using only 
the 25°C data yielded an excellent coefficient of de- 
termination: y (% per d) = -28.74 + 1.94 (LDH); 
P=0.003; r 2 =0.86. A multiple regression with a tem- 
perature term improved its use as an overall predic- 
tor (Table 3). 
