Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T20:15:31.187Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Environmental effect on diet, fecundity and condition of an endangered fish Neosalanx reganius (Osmeriformes) in the Chikugo Estuary, in the upper Ariake Bay, Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2006

Md. Shahidul Islam ,
Manabu Hibino ,
Taro Ohta ,
Kouji Nakayama  and
Masaru Tanaka
Md. Shahidul Islam
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Estuarine Ecology, Field Science Education and Research Center, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Manabu Hibino
Affiliation:
Aichi Fisheries Promotion Fund Department of Sea-Farming, 1-3 Ichizanmatu Nakayama Atsumi-cho Astumi-gun, Aichi 441-3615, Japan
Taro Ohta
Affiliation:
Tottori Prefectural Fisheries Research Center, Ishiwaki, Tomari, Tohaku-gun, Tottori 689-0602, Japan
Kouji Nakayama
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Estuarine Ecology, Field Science Education and Research Center, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Masaru Tanaka
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Estuarine Ecology, Field Science Education and Research Center, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Get access

Abstract

Neosalanx reganius is a poorly studied salangid fish restricted to the upper reaches of the Chikugo and the Midori River flowing into the Ariake Bay, Kyushu, Japan. Samples of N. reganius were collected from brackish water areas of the Chikugo River by eight cruises in 1998-2004 to characterize the distribution pattern, feeding ecology in relation to ambient prey concentrations, fecundity and condition of the fish. A total of 244 specimens were collected, 36 to 71 mm total length, and 111 to 1301 mg body weight. The catch per unit of effort (CPUE; number of fish collected by towing a larva net for 20 min) correlated positively with turbidity and negatively with salinity. N. reganius is a planktivorous fish, fed on a single calanoid copepod species Sinocalanus sinensis, which was the single most dominant prey item in all stations during all cruises, contributing as high as 97.0% of the total diet of the fish; the other prey items (other calanoids and cyclopoids, Daphnia sp. and decapod mysid) together contributed only 3%. S. sinensis also dominated in the environmental copepod composition. The CPUE showed significant correlation with copepod dry biomass which increased upstream (r = 0.90; p < 0.05). Fecundity ranged 347-995 (mean 583 173) oocytes individual−1 and relative fecundities ranged 6.8-15.6 (mean 10.1 ± 2.4) oocytes mm−1 TL and 0.8-2.5 (mean 1.6 ± 0.5) oocytes mg−1 of net body weight (weight taken after gonad extraction). Fecundity showed significant positive relationship with fish length and body weight. GSI ranged 29.4-58.8% (mean 43.5 ± 7.9%) and had significant relationship with fish length and body weight. Spawning individuals had higher allometry coefficient (b) and condition factor (K) than the non-spawning individuals. The oligohaline upper Chikugo estuary provides important feeding and spawning grounds for the fish with sufficient prey abundance and turbidity maximum that seemed advantageous for feeding and spawning of N. reganius in the Chikugo estuary. We suggest that future research should emphasize on the spawning and early life ecology of the fish in order to formulate effective conservation action.

Keywords

Feeding habitsFecundityCondition factorEstuarine turbiditySalangidaeNeosalanx reganius
Type
Research Article
Information
Aquatic Living Resources , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 59 - 68
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, IFREMER, IRD, 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Dahlgren, C.P., Eggleston, D.B., 2000, Ecological processes underlying ontogenetic habitat shifts in a coral reef fish. Ecology 81, 2227-2240. CrossRef
Dauvin, J.C., Dodson, J.J., 1990, Relationship between feeding incidence and vertical and longitudinal distribution of rainbow smelt larvae (Osmerus mordax) in a turbid well-mixed estuary. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 60, 1-12. CrossRef
Dodson, J.J., Dauvin, J.C., Ingram, R.G., d'Anglejan, B., 1989, Abundance of larval rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) in relation to the maximum turbidity zone and associated macroplankton fauna of the middle St. Lawrence estuary. Estuaries 12, 66-81. CrossRef
Dou, S., Chen, D., 1994, Taxonomy, biology and abundance of icefishes, or noodlefishes (Salangidae), in the Yellow River estuary of the Bohai Sea, China. J. Fish Biol. 45, 737-748.
Fu, C., Luo, J., Wu, J., López, J.A., Zhong, Y., Lei, G., Chen, J., 2005, Phylogenetic relationships of salangid fishes (Osmeridae, Salanginae) with comments on phylogenetic placement of the salangids based on mitochondrial DNA sequences. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 35, 76-84. CrossRef
Gonçalves, J.M.S., Bentes, L., Lino, P.G., Ribeiro, J., Canário, A.V.M., Erzini, K., 1997, Weight-length relationships for selected fish species of the small-scale demersal fisheries of the south and south-west coast of Portugal. Fish. Res. 30, 253-256. CrossRef
Hambright, K.D., Hall, R.O., 1992, Differential zooplankton feeding behaviours, selectivities and community impacts of two planktivorous fishes. Environ. Biol. Fishes 35, 401-411. CrossRef
Hibino, M., Kinoshita, I., Ohta, Y., Tanaka, M., 2002, Morphology of Ariake icefish Salanx ariakensis larvae in the Chikugo estuary. Jpn. J. Ichthyol. 49, 103-108.
Hibino, M., Ohta, T., Kinoshita, I., Tanaka, M., 2002, Fish larvae and juveniles occurring in the littoral zone of a tidal flat in the bottom of Ariake Bay. Jpn. J. Ichthyol. 49, 109-120.
Islam M.S., Hibino M., Tanaka M., in press, Distribution and dietary relationships of Japanese temperate bass (Lateolabrax japonicus) juveniles with two contrasting copepod assemblages in estuarine nursery grounds in Ariake Bay. Jpn. J. Fish Biol.
Islam, M.S., Ueda, H., Tanaka, M., 2005, Spatial distribution and trophic ecology of dominant copepods associated with turbidity maximum along the salinity gradient in a highly embayed estuarine system in Ariake Sea, Japan. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 316, 101-115. CrossRef
Kolher N., Casey, J., Turner P., 1995, Length-weight relationships for 13 species of sharks from the western North Atlantic. Fish. Bull. 93 412-418.
Laprise, R., Dodson, J.J., 1989, Ontogeny and importance of tidal vertical migrations in the retention of larval smelt Osmerus mordax in a well-mixed estuary. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 55, 101-111. CrossRef
Laprise, R., Dodson, J.J., 1994, Environmental variability as a factor controlling spatial patterns in distribution and species diversity of zooplankton in the St. Lawrence estuary. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 107, 67-81. CrossRef
Liu, Z., 2001, Diet of the zooplanktivorous icefish Neosalanx pseudotaihuensis Zhang. Hydrobiologia 459, 51-56. CrossRef
Liu, Z., Herzig, A., Schiemer, F., 2000, Growth of the Icefish Neosalanx pseudotaihuensis (Salangidae) in Xujiahe Reservoir, Central China. Environ. Biol. Fishes 59, 219-227. CrossRef
Margulies, D., 1990, Vulnerability of larval white perch, Morone americana, to fish predation. Environ. Biol. Fishes 27, 187-200. CrossRef
Morato, T., Afonso, P., Lourinho, P., Barreiros, J.P., Santos, R.S., Nash, R.D.M., 2001, Length-weight relationships for 21 coastal fish species of the Azores, north-eastern Atlantic. Fish. Res. 50, 297-302. CrossRef
Nelson J.S., 1994, Fishes of the world, 3rd edn. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
North E.W., Houde E.D. 2003, Linking ETM physics, zooplankton prey, and fish early-life histories to white perch (Morone americana) and striped bass (M. saxatilis) recruitment success. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 260, 219-236.
Richter, H.C., Luckstadt, C., Focken, U., Becker, K., 2000, An improved procedure to assess fish condition on the basis of length-weight relationships. Arch. Fish. Mar. Res. 48, 255-264.
Roberts, T.R., 1984, Skeletal anatomy and classification of the neotenic Asian Salmoniform superfamily Salangoidea (icefishes or needlefishes). Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 43, 179-220.
Safran, P., 1992, Theoretical analysis of the weight-length relationship in fish juveniles. Mar. Biol. 112, 545-551. CrossRef
Safran, P., 1992, Theoretical analysis of the weight-length relationships in the juveniles. Mar. Biol. 112, 545-551. CrossRef
Santos, M.N., Gaspar, M.B., Vasconcelos, P., Monteiro, C.C., 2002, Weight-length relationships for 50 selected fish species of the Algarve coast (southern Portugal). Fish. Res. 59, 289-295. CrossRef
Senta, T., 1973a, Spawning ground of the salmonoid fish, Salangichthys microdon in Takahashi River, Okayama Prefecture. Jpn. J. Ichthyol. 20, 25-28.
Senta, T., 1973b, On the salmonoid fish, Salangichthys microdon, in spawning season, in Takahashi River, Okayama Prefecture. Jpn. J. Ichthyol. 20, 29-35.
Shoji, J., North, E.W., Houde, E.D., 2005, The feeding ecology of Morone americana larvae in the Chesapeake Bay estuarine turbidity maximum: the influence of physical conditions and prey concentrations. J. Fish Biol. 66, 1328-1341. CrossRef
Sirois P., Dodson J.J. 2000b, Influence of turbidity, food density and parasites on the ingestion and growth of larval rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax in an estuarine turbidity maximum. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 193, 167-179.
Sirois, P., Dodson J.J. 2000a, Critical periods and growth-dependent survival of larvae of an estuarine fish, the rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 203, 233-245.
Takita T., 1966, Studies on the life history of Neosalanx reganius Wakiya and Takahashi. Bull. Fac. Fish., Nagasaki Univ. 21, 159-170 (in Japanese).
Takita, T., 1996, Threatened fishes of the world, Neosalanx reganius Wakiya and Takahashi, 1937 (Salangidae). Environ. Biol. Fishes 47, 100. CrossRef
Takita, T., Kawaguchi, K., Masutani, H., 1988, Distribution and morphology of the salangid fish, Neosalanx reganius. Jpn. J. Ichthyol. 34, 497-503. CrossRef
Utne, A.C.W., Aksnes, D.L., Giske, J., 1993, Food, predation risk and shelter: an experimental study on the distribution of adult two-spotted goby Gobiusculus flavescens (Fabricius). J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 166, 203-216. CrossRef
Wang, Z., Fu, C., Lei, G., 2002, Biodiversity of Chinese icefishes (Salangidae) and their conserving strategies. Biodiv. Sci. 10, 416-424 (in Chinese).
Wazenboch, J., 1992, Ontogeny of prey attack behaviour in larvae and juveniles of three European cyprinids. Environ. Biol. Fishes 33, 23-32.
Zhang, Y., Qiao, X., 1994, Study on phylogeny and zoogeography of Wshes of the family Salangidae. Acta. Zool. Taiwan 5, 95-115.