Comparative study of pikeperch Sander lucioperca (Percidae; Linnaeus, 1758) eggs and larvae from wild females or from captive females fed chopped marine fish.

Morphometric characteristics, proximal composition and fatty acids profiles of eggs and larvae at hatching and mouth opening were studied as indicators for assessing the potential differences between spawns obtained from wild or captive females of pikeperch (Sander lucioperca). Captive females were acclimated to hatchery conditions and fed to satiation with chopped marine fish for more than a year, guaranteeing that captivity covered the full cycle of gonad maturation. The number of larvae obtained from the spawnings did not differ between captive and wild females, but both mean diameter and mean weight of the eggs collected from the captive females were significantly larger. Proximal compositions were similar in eggs and larvae from both groups, but fatty acids (FA) profiles showed striking differences: polyunsaturated FA consisted mainly of linoleic acid in eggs and larvae from wild females, while they consisted mainly of long chains of n-3 series in eggs and larvae from captive females. The diet of captive females largely modified the FA profiles of eggs and of hatching or mouth opening larvae, but did not affect the growth potential of early larvae, demonstrating that they were able to satisfy their early physiological needs regardless of the striking differences in their FA.