-z. 



Q 



\ 3 



< 



tr 2- 



'Standard length data (or cultured larvae are means ' 1 SD for 50 to 150 larvae Chemical data are (or two replicates 

 consisting of 10 larvae each except lor the largest size group on days 43. 50, and 58 when only 5 larvae were used per 

 replicate 



?ln this sample, 6 of the lO fish had metamorphosed 



^In this sample, all ftsh had metamorphosed 



•"Data for Groups land II represenlvalues tor pools of three larvae each Data for Group III are means • i SD for five larvae 

 analyzed individually 



END FEEDING 



YOLK-^AC INITIATION 

 STAGE 



# FED 



C) STARVED 



Figure 2.— RNA-DNA ratios of 

 starved and fed winter flounder larvae. 

 Open circles indicate values for larvae 

 transferred to filtered sea water on day 3 

 and diiy 28. Brackets indicate ^ 1 SD. 



"1 — r 



2 



1 \ r 



I I I '■'" 



n — \ — TT" 



30 32 



DAYS AFTER SPAWNING 



in the group, occurred 7 days after transfer to 

 filtered seawater, accounting for the high DNA, 

 RNA, and protein values observed on the final day 

 of sampling (day 36). The RNA-DNA ratio of lar- 

 vae transferred to filtered seawater decreased con- 

 tinually until a 100'* mortality was observed. No 

 significant change in the RNA-DNA ratio of fed 

 larvae was obser-ved during the same period (Fig- 

 ure 2). The DNA, RNA, and protein content of 

 different size groups of wild and cultured larvae 

 through metamorphosis is shown in Table 2. 



Discussion 



The DNA, RNA. and protein content of winter 

 706 



flounder eggs reported in this study are total val- 

 ues for the yolk plus the embryo. Any increase in 

 the amount of a particular component must there- 

 fore result from synthesis rather than transfer 

 from the yolk to the embryo. The continual net 

 accumulation of DNA from fertilization to hatch- 

 ing is probably correlated with an increa.se in cell 

 number (Regnault and Luquet 1974) although the 

 content of DNA per cell may decrease (Neyfakh 

 and Abramova 1974). The small increase in pro- 

 tein content during the same period is evidence 

 that protein is not an important energy source 

 during early development in winter flounder. The 

 46'; decrease in protein content between the 

 maximum .3 days prior to hatching and the 



