Abstract 

The present study investigated the influence of temperature (4, 8 and 12°C) on development and survival of brown trout (Salmo trutta) fry. The three aims of this study were: (i) to propose a typology of malformations; (ii) to compare malformation types between live and dead fry, and (iii) to establish relationships between temperature and malformation occurrences. It was found 20 single malformations and 39 combinations of two or more malformations. Comparison between dead and live fry at different development stages (hatching, emergence and first food intake) showed that malformations of yolk sac were predominant at hatching and then decreased, while malformations of skeleton or multiple malformations were higher thereafter. Alldead fry, and only 14% of live fry were malformed. Dead fry were mainly characterized by yolk sac malformations and multiple malformations whatever the temperature. Live fry showed a higher rate of skeleton malformations at 12°C, and the different types of malformations were equally represented at two others temperatures (4 and 8°C). To conclude, it is suggested that some malformations (yolk sac at hatching, yolk sac associated with skeleton malformations at emergence and skeleton at first food intake or combinations of malformations at all stages) might be lethal as they were found in dead fry and that temperature influences differently the occurrence of malformations.