This guide presents the egg and larval descriptions of 150 species of fishes belonging to 57 families, which are most likely to be present in plankton samples collected in the continental shelf and oceanic waters off northwest Africa. The guide is structured in two parts. The first introductory part describes the different applications of ichthyoplankton studies in fisheries research and management, and fish population ecology, the main sampling strategies, methods and gears, and the problems related to sample representativeness. It also describes the early life history of fishes, and how to identify them. A brief description of the hydrography of the study area is also presented. The second part of the guide features the species identification sheets. Each species sheet includes the following information: an illustration of the adult fish and information on its distribution, habitat, spawning season, and meristic characters; a description of the main features useful towards identifying the egg, yolk-sac and larval stages; and illustrations and photos of different larval stages. Finally, the guide provides a comprehensive list of references.

This guide presents the egg and larval descriptions of 100 species of fishes belonging to 55 families, which are most likely to be present in plankton samples collected in the continental shelf and oceanic waters of the Western Mediterranean Sea. The guide is structured in two parts. The first introductory part describes the different applications of ichthyoplankton studies in fisheries research, the main sampling strategies, methods and gears, the early life history of fishes and how to identify them. A brief historical account of ichthyoplankton identification studies in the Mediterranean Sea is also provided. The second part of the guide contains the identification sheets of the species. Each species sheet includes the following information: illustration of the adult fish and information on its habitat and spawning season; description of the main features useful towards identifying the egg, yolk sac and larval stage of each fish species; illustrations and (when available) photos of the different life stages.

The Early Life History (ELH) of marine fishes in Fishing Area 31, which includes the western central North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico, has remained incomplete over the years. This certainly wasn't because of any lack of interest, but rather a lack of a comprehensive merging of studies that would provide a broad understandi

4 Water Sources ........................................ 149 Criteria ............................................. 149 Major types .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary ............................................ 152 5 Water Treatment ...................................... 155 Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 . . . . . . . . . . . . Materials ............................................ 155 Treatment options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 . . . . . . . . . . . System design ........................................ 169 System monitoring and control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 . . . . . . . . Environmental considerations .............................. 174 Summary ............................................ 174 6 Culture Units ......................................... 175 Considerations in choosing culture units ...................... 175 Characteristics of culture units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 . . . . . . . . Applications of culture units .............................. 191 Hatchery design " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 . . . . . . . . . . . Summary ............................................ 210 7 Obtaining Fish for Stocking . ............................. 211 Stock from the wild .................................... 211 Stock from the hatchery ................................. 211 Spermatogenesis (sperm formation) ....................... 232 Oogenesis (egg formation) ............................. 232 Oocyte maturation ................................... 233 Endocrine control of oocyte maturation and ovulation .......... 237 fuduced ovulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 . . . . . . . . . . Timing and egg quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 . . . . . . . . . Artificial fertilization ................................. 265 Care of eggs ....................................... 267 Storage of gametes ................. ' .................. 269 Natural ovulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 . . . . . . . . . . Care of broodfish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 . . . . . . . . . . Egg collection .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 . . . . . . . . . . fuduced vs natural ovulation ............................ 290 Broodfish adaptability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 . . . . . . . . . . Examples ............................................ 291 Genetic considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 . . . . . . . . . . Hybridization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 . . . . . . . . . . . . Sex control .......................................... 296 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi 8 Nutrition of Larval Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 . . . . . . . . . . Feeding criteria ....................................... 299 Choice and culture of foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 . . . . . . . . . General feeding practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 . . . . . . . . . . Specific feeding practices ................................ 352 General methods used in our hatchery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372 . . . . . . . Industrial-scale larval food processing in Italian hatcheries ......... 373 Summary ............................................ 374 9 Nutrition of Juvenile and Adult Fish ...................... 375 ............................. 375 Requirements and components Broodstock nutrition .................................... 407 Nutritional disorders .................................... 408 Environmental considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411 . . . . . . . . . Feed studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411 . . . . . . . . . . . . Suggested feed formulas ................................. 460 Making and storing feeds ................................ 461 Feeding methods ...................................... 464 Summary ............................................ 467 10 Energetics ............................................ 469 Energy budget components and influencing factors . . . . . . . . . . . 469 . . . .

It is now clear that data based on the studies of fish eggs and larvae make a number of unique contributions to fishery science that are crucial for accurate assessment and management of fish populations, including those of commercially important fisheries. This valuable book demonstrates why fish eggs and larvae are important, how the characteristics of early life stages require a somewhat different research approach and how information on early life stages can be applied and interpreted to yield unique insights into fish populations. The editors of Fishery Science have drawn together an extremely useful and well-written book with contributions from internationally respected researchers from North America, Asia and Europe. Chapters include a discussion of the unique nature of early life stages, age and growth, mortality, recruitment, populations analysis, habitats, human impacts and management. A carefully selected set of case studies demonstrates several specific applications of early life history information to a number of fishery problems. Fishery Science was designed to complement existing textbooks and is an essential purchase for all fisheries students and professionals, and for biologists working on the early life stages of fish. This exciting book is also of great value to ecologists, marine, freshwater and environmental scientists, populations biologists and oceanographers. All libraries in universities and research establishments where biological and fishery science are studied and taught should have copies of this book available on their shelves.