Five culture trials were made in 570 circular tanks. Sea bream larvae were fed frozen zooplankton from the mouth-opening stage until 92 days of age. Survival rates and growth are reported. When the 1st feeding was composed of large Brachionus plicatilis (261 .+-. 47 .mu.) and/or rotifers eggs, the survival rate was null. When small rotifers and/or Mytilus galloprovincialis eggs were given first, results were comparable to those obtained by Barnabe (1976) and Ramos (1978) using live feed. Larvae began to eat earlier when fed small; and up to 4.5 mm long, they selectively chose prey < 200 .mu.. Rotifers were digested in < 2 h; but when small ones were not available, larvae ate rotifer eggs which were not digested, or bubbles of adequate size. Characteristics of this behavior are reported. Excretion of ingested bubbles occurred in < 2 h resulting in a purge of the digestive tract. Two mechanisms of prey selection are described: visual selection and regurgitation, the former being more frequent. These behavioral patterns might explain one of the causes of mortality during larval culture of S. auratus.