In two rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss strains fed 5% of body mass for 1 week, no significant differences were observed between the two strains in the in vitro proliferation rate of myosatellite cells isolated from white axial muscle and studied for 8 days following the incorporation of 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine. Nonetheless, the differentiation process and formation of myotubes started first in the strain displaying the fastest growth and the myotubes attained a more developed stage in these fish: more numerous and bigger myotubes. When the two strains were submitted to starvation for 1 week, the fast growing strain showed a faster response to the culture medium and a significantly higher proliferation rate than the slow growing one.