Bramidae: L I A4

Brama brama (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Pomfret

Egg diameter in µm	Number of oil globules	Diameter of oil globule in µm	Yolk texture	Perivitelline space	Position of oil globule at hatch	Gut length   at eye- pigment stage	Myomeres
1560-1700	1	340-410	clear	narrow	stern	27% of NL	ca.42

Egg: When fresh, these eggs can have a multiple oil globule, but coalesce to single within a day (see MIIA4). Black pigment, forming a big blotch in the head of the developing embryo, and a ring around the oil globule (A, top left), are early identifying features, followed soon after by two conspicuous yellow spots in the tail, as well as two bars of yellow at the tip of the notochord (A, top right, B & C). The clear oil globule is usually flattened, thus appearing oval in some perspectives (A). The yolk has a rough-textured surface (goose-pimpled). Incubation is 5-6 days (20-22°C).

Larva: The yolksac larva retains the yellow spots seen in the egg, including the two bars at the notochord tip, visible (over the egg) on the hatched larva in Plate D. At 4-5 days all but the caudal finfold pigment has disappeared, and at 6 days even that has disappeared, but the head retains a rich yellow pigment (F). Pectorals are present but are unpigmented (F, white arrow). Only a single specimen has been reared to postflexion (G). D: NH, E: 5 days, F: 6 days, G: 33 days (21°C).

Four larvae hatched from this egg, have been sequenced, and have matched the sequence of adult Brama brama already available in BOLD, and 5 adults from the Agulhas Bank.

Linked samples	Offshore	Inshore
Eggs	57	19
Hits	25	13

These eggs were found in winter off Park Rynie (blue graph). They were not seen in the DHM samples. The limited Park Rynie linked samples had most of these eggs offshore (75%), which is expected, but the percentage is low, considering the oceanic habitat of bramids (Smith 1986). See Section 7.3 and Table 1 of the Introductory Notes, for more information on the linked samples.