| Summary: | Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2002 The effect of egg weight on survival and development of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) embryos, alevins, and fry was analyzed; in addition, embryo survival was investigated in relation to additive genetic variation. Embryonic survival to eyeing, development time to hatch, yolk weight, somatic tissue weight, yolk use rate, somatic tissue growth rate, and the survival of first-feeding fry was recorded relative to egg weight. The analyses demonstrated significant egg weight effects on development time to hatch, yolk weight, somatic tissue weight, yolk use rate, and somatic tissue growth rate on alevins. Weight and length of post-emergent fry (17 weeks post-ponding) were also significantly affected by initial egg weight. However, egg weight did not affect survival of eyed eggs or fry. Differential family-specific survival of eyed eggs indicated the presence of significant additive genetic variation.
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