Loach exhibit conspicuous drilling behaviors in the mud of shallow waters,yet their burrow morphology and the factors affecting this behavior have received little attention.We characterized the burrow morphology and w...Loach exhibit conspicuous drilling behaviors in the mud of shallow waters,yet their burrow morphology and the factors affecting this behavior have received little attention.We characterized the burrow morphology and water quality of the pond loach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus in three scenarios:in tanks without plants,tanks with the free-floating plant water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes,and tanks with water lettuce Pistia stratiotes.Water hyacinth effectively removed water TN,COD,NO3-N and NH4-N,and water lettuce removed water TP and NH4-N.Water hyacinth and water lettuce markedly reduced water turbidity and DO,increased TOC and EC.Water hyacinth purified water more effectively than water lettuce,providing a suitable habitat for loach feeding,living and burrowing.The burrow structures were V-shaped,Y-shaped,inverted L-shaped,or complicated dendritic networks composed of multiple V shapes.The hyacinth treatment was characterized by the greatest burrow volume,length,depth,and structural complexity,but the opening size was reduced by dense root mat coverage.Burrows in the water lettuce treatment were characterized by intermediate volume,length,branches and sinuosity,but they had the largest opening and pit size.The control treatment had a flat bottom with the smallest,shortest burrows.This study indicates that free-floating plants improve habitat suitability and change burrow morphology and may be used to improve loach breeding methods。展开更多
基金This study was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality(Grant No.13ZR1427300)Spark Program of the state ministry of science and technology of China(2015GA680005).
文摘Loach exhibit conspicuous drilling behaviors in the mud of shallow waters,yet their burrow morphology and the factors affecting this behavior have received little attention.We characterized the burrow morphology and water quality of the pond loach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus in three scenarios:in tanks without plants,tanks with the free-floating plant water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes,and tanks with water lettuce Pistia stratiotes.Water hyacinth effectively removed water TN,COD,NO3-N and NH4-N,and water lettuce removed water TP and NH4-N.Water hyacinth and water lettuce markedly reduced water turbidity and DO,increased TOC and EC.Water hyacinth purified water more effectively than water lettuce,providing a suitable habitat for loach feeding,living and burrowing.The burrow structures were V-shaped,Y-shaped,inverted L-shaped,or complicated dendritic networks composed of multiple V shapes.The hyacinth treatment was characterized by the greatest burrow volume,length,depth,and structural complexity,but the opening size was reduced by dense root mat coverage.Burrows in the water lettuce treatment were characterized by intermediate volume,length,branches and sinuosity,but they had the largest opening and pit size.The control treatment had a flat bottom with the smallest,shortest burrows.This study indicates that free-floating plants improve habitat suitability and change burrow morphology and may be used to improve loach breeding methods。
