Morphology of tench, Tinea tinea (L.), in the first year of postembryonal development

Abstract

Description is presented of the morphologic development of tench in the first year of life at the background of thermal conditions and food resources in the environment. Three groups of tench larvae and fry were studied; they originated from a three-batch spawning and were reared in separate enclosures in an earthen pond. A strict relationship was found between the rate of morphologic development and the thermal conditions, both during larval and fry stage. Morphologic development of tench fry was clearly affected by the type of food; this effect was less noticeable in the case of larvae. A definite stage of morphologic development sttained by the fish was related to body size irrespective of the fish age.