Abstract
THE number of vertebræ in fish is considered to vary with temperature during early development. From field observations, it is generally considered that fish subjected to low temperature tend to have more vertebræ than those in warmer waters. This was supported by the experiments of Gabriel1 on Fundulus heteroclitus, of Dannevig2 on Pleuronectes platessa, and of Kubo and Kobayashi3 on Oncorhynchus keta. On the other hand, Tåning4 showed that the lowest average number of vertebræ was obtained at an intermediate temperature, while both higher and lower temperatures produced a higher average in his experiment on Salmo trutta trutta. A similar result was obtained by Lindsey's5 experiments on Macropodus opercularis. Thus the results of experimental studies are not consistent.
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References
Gabriel, M. L., J. Exp. Zool., 95, 105 (1944).
Dannevig, A., Rep. Norw. Fish. Mar. Invest., 9, 3 (1950).
Kubo, T., and Kobayashi, T., Bull. Jap. Soc. Sci. Fish., 19, 297 (1953).
Tåning, A. V., Biol. Rev. (Camb.), 27, 169 (1952).
Lindsey, C. C., Can. J. Zool., 32, 87 (1954).
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ITAZAWA, Y. Influence of Temperature on the Number of Vertebræ in Fish. Nature 183, 1408–1409 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/1831408b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1831408b0
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