The egg yolk precursor, vitellogenin (VTG), was purified from blood plasma of striped bass by chromatography on hydroxylapatite or DEAE-agarose. The fish were first implanted with estradiol-17β (E2), which induced vitellogenesis. A rabbit antiserum (a-FSPP) raised against plasma from mature female striped bass, and then adsorbed with mature male plasma, was used to detect female-specific plasma protein (FSPP) in the chromatography fractions. Striped bass VTG (s-VTG) was collected from the peak fraction that was induced by E2, reacted with a-FSPP, and contained all detectable phosphoprotein. It appeared as a single band (Mr ≂ 170,000) in SDS-PAGE or Western blots using a-FSPP, and as a pair of closely-spaced phospholipoprotein bands in native gradient-PAGE, suggesting that there is more than one circulating form of s-VTG. The relationship of s-VTG to the yolk proteins was verified using a-FSPP. The antiserum reacted with the main peak from gel filtration of saline ovary extracts, and it specifically immunostained the two main bands in Western blots of the extracts and the yolk granules of mature oocytes. The amino acid composition of s-VTG was similar to that of VTG from other fish and Xenopus. A radial immunodiffusion assay for s-VTG was developed using a-FSPP and purified s-VTG as standard. The s-VTG was not detected in blood plasma of males, immature females, or regressed adult females, but plasma s-VTG levels were highly correlated with plasma E2 and testosterone levels, and oocyte growth, in maturing females. The results indicate that the maturational status of female striped bass can be identified by s-VTG immunoassay.

Abstract.– Fish and vegetable production were linked in a recirculating water system designed to achieve a high degree of efficiency of water use for food production in addition to functional and technological simplicity. Hybrid tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus×O. niloticus L. were grown in tanks associated with biofilters (sand beds) in which tomatoes Lycopersicon esculentum were grown. The effect of four biofilter volume (BFV)/fish rearing tank volume ratios (0.67/1, 1.00/1, 1.5011, 2.25/1) on water use efficiency was evaluated.‘Laura’(first experiment) or‘Kewalo’tomatoes were grown 4/m2 in biofilters of four different sizes and surface‐irrigated 8 times daily with water from the associated fish tanks. Daily water consumption increased with BFV/tank ratios and with time. Fish production rates increased with biofilter volume in the first experiment, but were not significantly different in the second experiment. Total tomato fruit yield per plot increased from 13.7 to 31.7 kg (Experiment 1) and from 19.9 to 33.1 kg (Experiment 2) with increasing BFV/tank ratio. For fish plus fruit, total energy production increased from 4,950 to 8,963 kcal/ plot and from 4,804 to 7,424 kcal/plot in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively, and protein production increased from 536 to 794 and from 352 to 483 g/plot in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively, with increasing BFV/ tank ratio. Trends in water use efficiency for production of food energy (kcal/L.) and of protein (g/L) in tomatoes and fish were complex. Water use efficiency

Four separate studies were done on Southern flounder Paralichthys lethostigma larvae during first feeding and metamorphosis to determine the effects of stocking density, salinity, and light intensity on growth and survival. One study used stocking densities of 10, 20, 40, and 80 fish/L during first feeding; the second study compared the growth and survival of larvae stocked at 20 and 33 ppt; and a third experiment evaluated stocking densities of 1/L and 3/L under two different light intensities (1,600 lux vs 340 lux) during metamorphosis. The fourth experiment tested the effects of different salinities (0, 10, 20 and 30 ppt) on larval growth and survival during metamorphosis. Growth and survival (overall 6.9%) were not significantly different (P > 0.05) for stocking rates up to 80/L. Larvae placed into 20 ppt salinity had survival through first feeding similar to that of larvae raised at 33 ppt. During metamorphosis, light intensity had no effect (P > 0.05) on growth or survival, but fish stocked at 3/L had significantly lower (P < 0.05) survival than fish at 1/L. Complete mortality of larvae occurred at 0 ppt. Growth and survival past metamorphosis were not significantly different (P > 0.05) at 10, 20 and 30 ppt, but unmetamorphosed fish did not survive to day 60 at 10 ppt. Based on these results, practical larviculture of Southern flounder may require a two‐step process with high stocking rates (80 fish/L) through first feeding and lower densities (1/L) through metamorphosis. Fingerling production in fertilized nursery ponds might he possible at salinity as low as 20 ppt.

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