Aspects of the early life history of European hake from the central Adriatic

During early development, the Left and right sagittae of European hake Merl uccius merluccius showed dimorphism in both size and shape due to the diffe rent number and size of accessory primordia. Juvenile hake reached the tota l length (L-T) of 15 cm in c. 1 year, with monthly growth rates ranging fro m 1.6 cm month(-1) in the third month of life to 1.1 cm month(-1) towards t he end of the first year. Back-calculated hatch-date distribution indicated continuous spawning with a peak in summer and a second, less evident, peak in February-March. The presence of early demersal juveniles (16-30 trim L- T, c. 40 days old) very close to the Pome pit area (Central Adriatic Sea) a t c. 140 m depths indicates that the change from the pelagic to the demersa l phase takes place at c. 40 days close to the area of concentration of juv eniles. The daily-increment hypothesis was validated indirectly. (C) 2000 T he Fisheries Society of the British Isles.