Morphological Development of Eggs, Larvae and Juveniles of the Far Eastern Catfish, Silurus asotus in Korea (Pisces: Siluridae)

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate egg development and larvae morphological development of catfish and to provide basic data to clarify the genetic relationship with Siluriformes fish. The mother fish that was used in this study was caught in the stream of Nakdong River in Uiseong-gun, Gyeongbuk. The temperature range of the breeding was 23.0-25.0℃ (mean 24.0±1.0℃) and egg size was 1.62-1.70 mm (mean 1.66±0.05, n=30). Eggs of catfish began hatching at 54 hours and 40 minutes after fertilization. Immediately after hatching, the total length of larvae was 3.60-3.65 mm (mean 3.62±0.03, n=5) and had an egg yolk without swimming ability. On the third day after hatching, the larvae at the medium stage was 8.00-8.65 mm (mean 8.32±0.45) in total length, and two pairs of whiskers formed around the mouth were elongated. On the 12th day after hatching, the larvae at the juvenile stage was 16.5-17.0 mm (mean 16.7±0.35) in total length, and the stem of each fin was in the range, and the juvenile at this period was morphologically similar to the mother fish.