EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF EGGS AND LARVAE OF SARDINE SARDINA-PILCHARDUS WALBAUM IN CAPTIVITY

Experiments were undertaken to determine the effects of temperature on the embryonic and larval development stages of sardine Sardina pilchardus Walbaum obtained in captivity, until they died of starvation. The exponential equation which relates temperature (T) and the age of the eggs, defined as the time (h) elapsed since fertilization (Y), is: Y =17.52 · e-0.136 T - 0.173 i · i2.222 where i, egg development stage (1-10). From the application of this equation to data reported in the literature, it can be concluded that sardines in the Atlantic waters of the Iberian Peninsula spawn at night between 1900 and 2100 (GMT). The relation between temperature and the time taken to reach hatching, eye pigmentation, reabsorption of the yolk sac and the death of larvae from starvation show clear inverse relations and the respective regression equations are given. © 1990.