ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF LARVA OF SILURUS SOLDATOVI MERIDIONALIS CHEN

Morphogenesis of the larvae obtained by artificial propapation and those collected from the Jialing River is described in this paper.By 11 daps after hatching, the yolk of larval fish is absorbed fairly well and the larvae begin to ingest food from the environment. By 23—26 days after hatching, the juvenile stage begins as all main external structures of the fish are differentiated. By 40—43 days after hatching, the juveniles have all external features resembling the adult fish except the exsitence of the second lower-jar-barbels, showing the end of the juvenile stage.From May to November, 1984, the young-of-the-year were collected from the Jialing River and their measurable characters are summarized.Fishes collected in May are well-developed juveniles; in June and July, their second lower-jar-barbels disappear when body length attains 151—177 mm. The relationship between body length and weight of young-of-the-year can be expressed as: W=e-10.87062L2.74257(N=77,r=0.9952)By caudal shape, body color and number of barbels, the young-of-the year of S. soldatovi meridionalis can be distinguished from S. asotus.