Food intake is a critical parameter in studies of energy balance, obesity, and metabolic disease, but previous methods to measure food intake in model fish species such as zebrafish (Danio rerio) have been labor intensive or indirect. In this study, we describe a simple and rapid method to measure food intake using freshly hatched brine shrimps as food source, followed by rapid collection using filtration of system water and quantification of collected shrimps using a photometric assay to measure extracted shrimp carotenoid content.
Keywords: Artemia; Danio rerio; brine shrimp; carotenoid; food intake; zebrafish.