4 Development: Eggs and Larvae

Publisher Summary Fish eggs and larvae provide a relatively untapped source of biological material, increased by improvements in the techniques for rearing marine species. Most species of fish pass through a larval stage before assuming the adult form at metamorphosis. This chapter discusses the most substantial advances that have been made in the investigations of marine eggs and larvae. Most fish eggs are round, although in the anchovy Engraulis and bitterling Rhodeus they are ovoid, and in certain gobies pear-shaped. At hatching, the larva is usually transparent with some pigment spots of unknown function. Notochord and myotomes are clear with usually little development of cartilage or ossification in the skeleton. The chapter discusses mortality, rearing and farming, yolk utilization, feeding, digestion, and starvation.