| Summary: | Experiments were designed to study the effects of various intensities and durations of light during early development on meristic variation in kokanee and sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), pink salmon (O. gorbuscha) and in rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri). An experiment with sockeye was designed exclusively to test the period of fixation of vertebrae. Among the salmon species rates of hatching and yolk-sac absorption were fastest under the longer light durations and higher intensities. In sockeye and pink an increasing rate of yolk-sac absorption was correlated with increasing amount of light. In trout the rate of yolk-sac absorption showed the opposite results. Mortalities were high under all the experimental conditions. Although meristic variability observed was deemed to be phenotypic yet the affects of selective mortality could not be entirely excluded. Abnormalities in the vertebral column were prevalent in the ‘pre-urostylic' region. The occurrence of abnormal vertebrae was correlated with light only in sockeye. The activities of the pituitary and thyroid glands of trout showed a positive correlation with higher amounts of light. Sockeye scale counts, along the lateral line and on the oblique rows from the origin of dorsal and anal fins to lateral line, were lowest under conditions of higher light and longer durations. Fin ray numbers in all species were the lowest at high light intensities and longer durations. Vertebral counts were lowest at high light intensities and long durations in pink salmon and rainbow trout, but higher in sockeye. At lower light intensities and durations results were variable. Vertebral counts of sockeye increased with increasing light at temperatures of both 8°C and 12°C. Differences among lots at 8°C were significant but those among comparable lots at 12°C were not. The action of light on meristic variability was weak at the higher temperature. It was found in sockeye that vertebral numbers were not fixed before 142 D° and that the period of sensitivity was prolonged (142 D° to 300 D°). Science, Faculty of Zoology, Department of Graduate
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