Abstract:

Embryonic development, morphological development and feed changeover of Epinephelus lanceolatus larva were observed and studied in this paper, and the features of every embryonic developmental stage and morphological features of larva were described detailedly. The results shown that the time for the giant grouper embryonic development is 18h 30 min in the static water with temperature 29±0.5℃, aerating slightly, salinity 30.0. Based on the experimental data, the embryonic development of the giant grouper can be divided into five stages, namely cleavage stage, blastula stage, gastrula stage, nerve stage as well as organogenesis stage. Newly hatched larva were nurtured in outdoor tanks under the conditions with temperature 25.0~30.0℃ and salinity 33.0~35.0. 72 hours after hatching, the yolk-sac was almost disappeared and the larva started to eat protozoa. From the 5th day, the larva fed on protozoa and small rotifers. From 8 days, larva start to eat copepod nauplius, also with few rotifers. After 13 days of hatching, larva eat mainly on copepod and dietary intake increased. The larva developed into juveniles 21days after hatching.