Morphological identification
MI of fish eggs and larvae was conducted in the Laboratory of Marine
Fisheries Research Institute of Zhejiang. A dissecting microscope
attached with a camera (Nikon smz 800-Japan) was used for MI. In the MI
procedure for fish eggs, diagnostic characters chosen for observation
included (1) the size of egg, (2) oil ball, and (3) pigment in the egg
shown in Table 1 (Zhang et al. 1985). In the MI procedure for fish
larvae, diagnostic characters observed included (1) dorsal fin, (2) anal
fin, and (3) melanin/pigment in the larva shown in Table 2 (Zhang et al.
1985).
Table 1. Morphological identification of species for fish egg samples
collected from different stations (see station codes on Fig. 1) in the
East China Sea off the Coast of Zhoushan Archipelago (ECS-CZA) in the
years of 2018 and 2019. N/I – Not Identified. †Some small oil balls
nearby a large yellow oil ball.