New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

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Possible functions of surface structure and size in some planktonic eggs of marine fishes

D. A. ROBERTSON

Fisheries Research Division Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries P.O. Box 19062 Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract Chorionic surface sculpturing on the eggs of 7 marine fish species was examined under a scanning electron microscope. The effect of sculpturing on descent rates of 3 of these eggs was experimentally compared with 10 non-sculptured egg types of different sizes. It is suggested that although in some species sculpturing represents vestigial tendrils, in others sculpturing and increased egg size may relate to ascent rates between the spawning site and the sea surface.

Keywords rates, fish eggs; size; sculpturing; ascent

New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1981, Vol. 15 : 147-153 Received 12 December 1980

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (868K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

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