Morphological development of post hatch larval goldlined seabream Rhabdosargus sarba (Forskål, 1775)

Ultrastructural changes in Rhabdosargus sarba larva in early life history were investigated. At hatching, the digestive system was histologically undifferentiated. The digestive tract was a straight tube attached to the dorsal end of the yolk‐sac and was not connected to either the mouth or the anus. The layer of gut epithelium at some regions of the luminal surface was straight and microvilli were not present. These straight borders were not observed at 1 day post hatching (DPH) onwards as microvilli increased in number on the luminal surface and became more regular. At 2 DPH, the digestive system was well differentiated and the separation of the mid‐ and hindgut by the intestino‐rectal valve became more advanced. At 0 DPH, the eye was spherical and the retina had a zonation with undifferentiated cells. The eye also lacked differentiated photoreceptors (PR). The retinal PRs increased in length and in number as the yolk‐sac was absorbed. By 2 DPH, the eye was fully pigmented, suggesting that the larval vision system was functional. The larvae had a pure cone retina at the onset of exogenous feeding. Morphological and functional differentiation of the digestive tract and the eye of the larvae preceded the completion of yolk and oil globule absorption. The oil globule was exhausted at 4 DPH and at 2 DPH, the yolk‐sac was completely absorbed. Food particles were observed at 3 DPH. Food particle ingestion and absorption of the yolk‐sac were observed as vision became fully functional.