Observation on the Morphology of the Larva,Juvenile and Young Fish of Plectropomus leopardus Lacépède

Key words: 
• Plectropomus leopardus Lacépède /
• larval fish /
• juvenile fish /
• young fish /
• morphology

Abstract: The general practice on division of the postembryonic development period of osteichthyes was used as reference,based on the morphology characteristic,the postembryonic development period of Plectropomus leopardus was divided into larval stage（including yolk-sac larva and late-stage larva）,juvenile stage and young fish stage,and the morphology of the fish during its various development period was described in detail.The type of build of P.leopardus was slender,and the color of the all juvenile fish body was red.There were the neat blue color or the black spots on the body.In the early developmental stage,the average length of the ventral fin thorn and the second dorsal fin thorn attained 13.12 mm and 10.19 mm respectively,but the growth speed of the anal fin was so slow that its anal fin thorn start growing up when the ventral fin thorn and the second dorsal fin thorn of the fish degenerate.