1994 Volume 60 Issue 1 Pages 73-76
In order to obtain basic knowledge for promoting seed production of the striped jack Caranx delicatissimus, chemical composition, nucleic acid contents, and alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP) were measured in the fish, from larvae through juveniles at 1-3 day intervals.
While rearing on rotifer, Artemia nauplii, and an artificial diet in that order, the total length of the fish increased satisfactorily from 2.8mm in the hatching larvae to 23mm in the juveniles on day 42. Moisture decreased slightly throughout the rearing period. Crude protein and ash increased steeply until day 17, the morphological sifting point from larvae to juvenile, but triglyceride and phospholipid temporarily fell in three periods of days 1-6, 14-16, and 24-28. DNA content and the RNA/DNA ratio respectively decreased and stepped up in periods of days 14-22 and days 34-42, except for steep increases by day 8. ALP increased on days 3-6 and then maintained high levels until day 14.
These indicate that growth in the early life stages of striped jack is supported by cyclic phases of hyperplasia and hypertrophy while conducting quantitative and qualitative changes in body composition and enzymes as well as morphological development.
