| Sumario: | Silverside fish, Chirostoma estor estor, is an important native species in Lake Pátzcuaro(Michoacán, México). Unfortunately, this species is under a strong fishing pressure. Therehave been some previous studies to establish the basic requirements for its culture, but stillvery little is known about its larviculture and rearing. The present study deals with: 1) thedescription of the anatomical structures of the mouth under electronic microscopy, showingthat this species is a zooplanktophagous fish; 2) the main embryological and larvaldevelopment stages, showing a small egg and a short eclosion period, typical of marinefishes; 3) the temperature and salinity culture conditions and methods that our group haveimplemented for the artificial fertilization, incubation of eggs and thorough life cycleculture; 4) first feeding with marine rotifers and Artemia nauplii, weaning after 25 dayswith artificial diets; 5) total proteolytic as well as some specific proteolytic enzymes wereevaluated in C. estor estor larvae. It is shown that tripsin-like enzymes are the most activeand important for protein digestion, since yolk-sac larvae to adult stage, suggesting afunctional digestive system and its ability to digest live and inert food, and 6) C. estor estorhave shown a typical carnivorous 1:0.7 (digestive tract: total length) ratio, but it seems thatdoes not have a real anatomical and functional stomach as the whole digestive tract haveshown a high pH along it and a very low activity of pepsine-like protease.
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