422 



Fishery Bulletin 93(2). 1995 



Length (mm) 

 Figure 1 



Logarithmic plot of the length-weight data for the 16 species considered in this analysis. Each point represents an individual larva. 



Ontogenic development is characterized by notable 

 changes in functional morphology that impact mo- 

 tility, foraging ability, and predator avoidance 

 (Blaxter, 1986; Neilson et al., 1986; Olla and Davis, 

 1992). Developmental changes in body form or com- 

 position can result in differences in proportional 

 growth in terms of length and weight and thus lead 



to a nonlinear allometric length-weight relationship. 

 Alternatively, nonlinear variation in the length- 

 weight relationship could be considered as evidence 

 of changes in condition induced by some degree of 

 food deprivation within a population of larval fish 

 (e.g. Grover and Olla, 1986; Frank and McRuer, 1989; 

 Drolet et al. , 199 1 ). Under such circumstances, varia- 



