Efeito dos conservantes sobre a densidade calórica em músculos de Hoplias aff. malabaricus (Bloch, 1794) (Osteichthyes, Erythrinidae)

The preservation of samples for caloric values determination in bioenergetic studies of fish has been presented literature with a variety of methods. To identify the effect of preservatives over the results obtained with different preservation techniques, adult individuals of Hoplias aff. malabaricus (Osteichthyes, Erythrinidae) were collected in Parana river floodplain. From each fish, five samples were extracted from its dorsal muscle and submitted each sample for a different treatment: ice (-10 o C), formaldehyde (4%), alcohol (70%), liquid nitrogen (-180 o C) and a control sample immediately oven dried (60 o C). After 30 days, the treatments were oven dried (60 o C) and caloric values of each sample were determined in a caloric bomb. Significant differences among the treatments were found (ANOVA: n = 206; F = 50.28; p < 0.001). Some evaluations of the effects of each treatment were presented for further comparisons with the results published in literature.