Relationship between oxygen consumption, growth and survival of larval fish

This work aimed to evaluate the relationship between morphological development, oxygen consumption and reduced mortality in larval fish. We measured the resting metabolic rate (RM), specific metabolic rate (SMR) and the change in the total length during the larval stage of four fish species. Resting metabolism decreased from hatching to mouth opening, and then increased after mouth opening. The changes in the SMR were variable during the larval stage. After hatching, there was no increase in SMR in yolk-sac larvae. However, SMR increased between mouth opening and the onset of notochord flexion and then decreased during notochord flexion before finally stabilizing. We observed two peaks in mortality during the larval period of all species: between mouth opening to the onset of notochord flexion and from the completion of notochord flexion to the juvenile stage based on the per cent mortality and the number of dead fish collected from the bottom of the rearing tank. Interestingly, the changes in SMR coincided with these periods of mortality. We hypothesize that larvae require more energy during these periods of larval development and are thus more susceptible to mortality when energy is insufficient. Thus, it is important to supply enough nutrition to larvae in during early development to prevent mass larval mortality.