A 30-day feeding experiment was conducted in tanks to investigate the effects of dietary fish protein hydrolysate (FPH) levels on the growth, survival and body composition of large yellow croaker (Pseudosciaena crocea Richardson) larvae ［12 days after hatchery, with initial average weight (1.6±0.18) mg］. FPH was produced by hydrolyzing fish with two protease. Five practical diets were used in the present study. Four microdiets (MD), with FPH replacing 0%, 25%, 50% and 75% of fish meal protein, were formulated. The frozen copepods were used as a control diet. The results showed that dietary FPH levels significantly influenced the growth, survival and body composition of large yellow croaker larvae. With increasing dietary FPH, the specific growth rates (SGRs) and survival of large yellow croaker significantly decrease d (P<0.05). While the survival (32.6%) in fish fed the diet with 25% FPH replacing fish meal protein was significantly higher than other groups (P<0.05), but was not significantly different from that of the c ontrol diet group (P>0.05). The SGR (9.0% day^-1) in fish fed the diet with 25% FPH replacing fish meal protein was not significantly different from the 0% FPH group. The body composition analysis showed that with increasing FPH, the whole body dry matter, crude protein and crude lipid significantly decreased (P<0.05). Analysis of whole body fatty acid showed that with increasing dietary FPH, DHA and EPA in fish body significantly decreased(P<0.05). Results from this study indicated that a proper replacement of fish meal with FPH in the microdiet of large yellow croaker larvae will improve survival, and excessive FPH will result in poor growth and low survival of the larvae.