The marine pejerrey Odontesthes argentinensis (Valenciennes, 1835)
is commonly found in coastal waters from South Brazil to Argentina
(Dyer, 1994). O. argentinensis is considered a new species for aquaculture
(Sampaio, 2006) and has been deemed a good model for ecotoxicological
investigations (Rodrigues et al., 2010).
Larvae of O. argentinensis hatch with an open mouth and pigmented
eyes (Valadares-Costa et al., 2009). This means that these larvae are able
to feed on the first day after hatching, with Artemia sp. because of its
large hatching size (between 6 and 8mm) compared with other marine
species, thus dispensing the culture of rotifers Brachionus plicatilis, commonly
used on the first feeding in marine fish larvae (Dhert et al., 2001).Sampaio and Piedras (2010) found that dry diets are accepted at first
feeding, but larval growth is reduced compared with larvae preying on
Artemia nauplii.