Effects of starvation on digestive enzyme activities of Monopterus albus

Starvation is a major environmental stress, which has a broad effect on the physiology and ecology of aquatic animals. In this study, Monopterus albus was starved for 30 days at (20 +/- 0.5) degrees C, and the activities of protease, trypsin, amylase and lipase in its digestive organs were measured on the 0, 3rd, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, and 30th day of starvation. The results showed that starvation had definite effects on the activities of all test enzymes. With the prolongation of starvation, the activities of test enzymes decreased, which was most significant when the fish was starved for 5-10 days. After 10 days of starvation, the decreasing trend of the enzyme activities became less obvious.