Early development of laboratory-reared redlip mullet, Liza haematocheila

Abstract

Eggs and sperm of Liza haematocheila were obtained from mature adults under natural conditions, fertilized artificially and incubated in the laboratory. Larvae and juveniles were reared for about 3 months by feeding with rotifers, Artemia nauplii and artificial feed. Early development and growth were described from a series of live specimens of larvae and juveniles. Fertilized eggs hatched after 80–95 h incubation at 15.6–21.2 °C. Feeding began on the 6th day after hatching, when some yolk still remained. Absorption of the oil globule was completed on the 13th day. The notochord staned to flex on the 15th day. The morphological transition from the larval to the juvenile stage occurred during the 25th to 29th days between 12.0 and 14.0 mm in total length (TL). When the larvae transformed to juveniles, the third anal fin ray had not yet transformed into a spine. The formation of the third anal spine occurred during the 40th to 76th days, between 21.6 and 45.5 mm TL; during this period juveniles transformed to young adults. Changes in proportion of the body parts to total length were observed at approximately 13 mm and 30 mm TL, corresponding to the transformations from larva to juvenile and from juvenile to adult, respectively.