Exposure of eggs to solar UV-B leads to reduced hatching rates in two sparid fishes, red sea bream Pagrus major and black sea bream Acanthopagrus schlegeli.

Hatching success was examined under exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) using filters to give three different light conditions [C1: UV-B, UV-A and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), C2: UV-A and PAR, C3: PAR] in red Pagrus major and black Acanthopagrus schlegeli sea bream. Hatching rate of both species was reduced by an exposure over a 2 day period to UVR and was not significantly different between two species under the three light conditions.