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The Buoyancy and Vertical Distribution of Eggs of Sprat (Sprattus Sprattus) and Pilchard (Sardina Pilchardus)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

S. H. Coombs ,
C. A. Fosh  and
M. A. Keen
S. H. Coombs
Affiliation:
Natural Environment Research Council, Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH
C. A. Fosh
Affiliation:
Natural Environment Research Council, Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH
M. A. Keen
Affiliation:
Natural Environment Research Council, Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH
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Extract

Observations on the density of pelagic marine fish eggs have indicated that they are near neutral buoyancy for most of development and have a tendency to become denser towards hatching (see Russell, 1976). However, most of this information has been based on limited laboratory observations on the relative buoyancy of eggs; only a few experiments have given more precise estimates of the absolute density of eggs based on the salinity of water in which they are neutrally buoyant (e.g. Franz, 1910; Sundnes, Leivestad & Iversen, 1965). Recently, a new technique (Coombs, 1981), based on the use of a stable column of continuously graded sea-water concentration has allowed more precise and routine measurements of the density of fish eggs throughout development.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 65 , Issue 2 , May 1985 , pp. 461 - 474
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1985

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