Development of mouth width and larval growth in three marine fish species

Abstract

Hatchery-bred larvae of three marine fish species, milkfish (Chanos chanos), seabass (Lates calcarifer) and rabbitfish (Siganus guttatus) were reared on rotifers and Artemia nauplii. Development of the mouth width and larval growth were monitored in the laboratory. Growth was slow on the first six days in milkfish and rabbitfish and on the first four days in seabass. Mouth width at opening was the smallest in rabbitfish (90-110 μm), followed by seabass (170-220) μm) and milkfish (180-270 μm), and the mouth width at the time when the larvae began to eat rotifers was 219 + 7.4 μm, at 82.5 h after hatching, in rabbitfish, 224 +7.9 μm, at 71 h, in seabass, and 3306 + 38.9 μm, at 125 h, in milkfish. A positive correlation between mouth width and larval growth was shown by three species studied.