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 hatchwith an openmouth 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) comparedwith othermarine
species, thus dispensing the culture of rotifers Brachionus plicatilis, commonly
used on the first feeding in marine fish larvae (Dhert et al., 2001).