| dc.description.abstract | A herring larval sampling program has been carried out off Western
Norway in the period 1985-1988. This paper deals with results from 1985-
1987. Larval growth and condition have been studied both with living and
formaldehyd preserved material. A comparativ study of the gut content
has been carried out between the three years. The larvae have been
staged according to morphometric criteria, and the duration of the different
stages has also been investigated. High abundance of larvae beyond the
"critical stage" were found both in 1985 and 1987. The growth and gut
analyses show that there had been good larval feeding conditions both
these years. In1986 , however, there were found few larvae without
yolksac. Both the study of growth and the examination of gut content show
that the larvae were in worse condition. At the same time of development
the larval population in 1985 was dominated by growing larvae with
resorbed yolksac, and more than 50% of the larvae had started to develop
the dorsal fin. In 1986, however, the larval population was dominated by
newly hatched larvae, while the population in 1987 was dominated by
larvae at the stage of yolksac resorbtion. | en |
