Shrinkage of Prochilodus lineatus (Valenciennes, 1847) larvae preserved in either ethyl-alcohol or formalin in relation to their developmental stage and feeding condition

GÓMEZ, MARÍA INÉS; SÁNCHEZ, SEBASTIÁN; FUENTES, CARLOS MARÍA

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ICHTHYOLOGY-ZEITSCHRIFT FUR ANGEWANDTE ICHTHYOLOGIE

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2014 vol. 30 p. 140 - 144

0175-8659

We analysed the effects of three months of 95% alcohol and 5% formalin preservation on the length of fed and unfed yolked, unyolked pre-flexion and flexion-postflexion Prochilodus lineatus larvae. Percent length changes after preservation were significant for the three stages and both preservatives, showing a slight increment (up to 8%) for unyolked preflexion larvae in alcohol and shrinkage (up to 17%) in all other cases. Formalin preservation resulted in percent shrinkage levels ca. three-fold higher than alcohol for yolked and unyolked pre-flexion larvae, while similar levels were found for more developed individuals preserved using both agents. Percent shrinkage of alcohol preserved larvae showed different trends in relation to larval length depending on the developmental stage of the larvae, decreasing and increasing with increasing fresh length in yolked and flexion-postflexion larvae, respectively. The feeding regime did not affect length changes after preservation for any preservative agent.