Latin American & Caribbean Aquaculture 2024

September 24 - 27, 2024

Medellín, Colombia

DESCRIPTIVE MORPHOLOGY AND ALLOMETRIC GROWTH OF THE LARVAL DEVELOPMENT OF Sarda chiliensis chiliensis IN A HATCHERY IN NORTHERN CHILE

Renzo Pepe-Victoriano* 1

 

 1 Universidad Arturo Prat, Iquique, Chile.

 

 rpepev@unap.cl / regepevic@gmail.com

 



Information on the morphophysiological development, growth patterns, and behavioral characteristics of the early developmental stages of the South Pacific bonito (Sarda chiliensis chiliensis) is important for fisheries management and aquaculture of this resource. The research aims to define and characterize the morphological development and allometric growth patterns at different stages of the larval cycle, conducted in the La Capilla sector in Arica, Chile. Eggs were collected from the breeding adults’ cultivation tank and distributed into three aquariums to study the morphological and morphometric characteristics of the different larval development periods. The larval development periods extended up to 519 hours for prejuvenile stages and from 519 to 591 hours for the juvenile stage. Total reabsorption of the oil droplet occurred between 81 and 108 hours, which constitutes a distinguishing feature for S. chiliensis chiliensis because the species is one of three that present a single oil droplet in the larval period. The South Pacific bonito inhabits the eastern waters of the Pacific Ocean in the Southern Hemisphere and is morphometrically more closely related to Sarda sarda from the Atlantic Ocean than to S. chiliensis lineolata, which inhabits the Pacific Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere.