Early life stages of migratory fish in rivers rely on physical transport mechanisms to carry them from spawning sites to distant nursery areas where they find food and refuge conditions. Starvation after a prolonged downriver drift could severely affect the colonisation and predator evasion capabilities of the larvae. In this study we investigated differences in the external morphology, nutritional condition and swimming abilities of fed and unfed Prochilodus lineatus early larvae under experimental conditions. After yolk reabsorption on Day 6, larvae were either fed with nauplii of Artemia salina or left unfed for up to 10 days. Larvae from each feeding regime (i.e. fed and unfed) were sampled daily from three aquaria, and the morphometry and routine swimming activity were determined and analysed together with a previously published RNA/DNA ratio dataset. The results were in agreement with previous investigations that indicated that the larvae of this species have starvation endurance; however, prolonged food deprivation is associated with a smaller body, anal depth and head length, as well as lower RNA/DNA ratios and reduced swimming ability.

河流中迁徙鱼类的早期生活阶段依靠物理运输机制将其从产卵地带到遥远的苗圃地区，在那里他们找到了食物和避难所。长时间的下游漂流后饥饿会严重影响幼虫的定居和捕食者逃避能力。在这项研究中，我们调查了在实验条件下喂食和未喂食线虫Prochilodus lineatus早期幼虫在外部形态，营养条件和游泳能力方面的差异。卵黄重吸收后第6天，给幼虫喂食卤虫无节幼体或长达10天不进食。每天从三个水族箱中取样每种取食方式（即喂食和不喂食）的幼虫，并测定形态和常规游泳活动，并与以前发表的RNA / DNA比数据集一起进行分析。结果与以前的研究一致，后者表明该物种的幼虫具有饥饿耐力。然而，长期的食物匮乏与身体较小，肛门深度和头部长度较小，RNA / DNA比率较低和游泳能力下降有关。