Drinking responses to salinity change in the larvae of herring (Clupea harengus L.), plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.) and cod (Gadus morhua L.) were measured from the time course of uptake of dextran labelled with tritium, following immersion in solutions of 32‰ and 16‰ sea water. The yolk sac and first feeding larval stages of all three species drink in both salinities. Furthermore, post-yolk sac stages appear to adjust their drinking rates to compensate for different salinities in a manner similar to that of the adults. Drinking rates in 32‰ sea water are approximately double those in 16‰. Mass-related drinking rates of larvae are higher than those in adults, but the differences do not match the differences in surface area to mass ratios, suggesting that larval skin is less permeable to water than is adult gill epithelium. Water absorption is indicated by the evidence of concentration of dextran in the gut. The estimates of drinking rates from tritiated dextran uptake are supported by epifluorescence microscopical measurements of the uptake of fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran.
