Ontogenetic development in the morphology and behavior of loach(Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) during early life stages

Loach(Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) is a commercially important fish in China and an ideal aquaculture species. However, culturists experience high larval and juvenile mortality during mass production. To provide insight into ways to improve larviculture techniques, we describe the morphological characteristics and behavior of loach during the larval and early juvenile stages. Yolksac larvae ranged from 2.8 to 4.0 mm body length(BL) between days 0 to 4; preflexion larvae ranged from 3.6 to 5.5 mm BL between days 4 to 6; flexion larvae ranged from 4.8 to 8.1 mm BL between days 5 and 14; and postflexion larvae ranged from 7.1 to 15.7 mm BL between days 11 to 27; the minimum length and age of juveniles was 14.1 mm BL and 23 d, respectively. Loach are demersal from hatch through to the early juvenile stages. A suite of morphological characteristics(e.g., external gill filament and ventral mouth opening) and behavioral traits have developed to adapt to demersal living. We observed positive allometric growth in eye diameter, head length, head height, and pectoral fin length during the early larval stages, reflecting the priorities in the development of the organs essential for survival. Our results provide a basis for developing techniques to improve the survival of larval and juvenile loach during mass production.

A comparison of zooplankton assemblages in Nansi Lake and Hongze Lake,potential influences of the East Route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project,China

Nansi Lake and Hongze Lake are both water storage lakes along the East Route of the South-to-North Water Transfer project(ESNT).Frequent changes in hydrologic properties are responsible factors for controlling the zooplankton community assemblages in both lakes,so we studied the possible influence of water transfer and environmental factors on zooplankton community structure and abundance.Zooplankton assemblages were investigated seasonally for one year in both lakes;a total of 133 and 122 zooplankton taxa were identified in Nansi Lake and Hongze Lake,respectively.The most dominant rotifer species were littoral,e.g.,Keratella tecta,Keratella valga and Lecane lunaris in Nansi Lake and Brachionus angularis,Brachionus forficula and Polyarthra vulgaris in Hongze Lake.Comparatively,Nansi Lake had a higher Shannon-Wiener diversity index value(5.13),while Hongze Lake had a higher species richness index(4.21).The average number of zooplankton across seasons in Nansi Lake(protozoa:774±63 ind./L,rotifers:4817±212 ind./L,cladocerans:896±14 ind./L,copepod:435±42 ind./L)was comparatively lower than Hongze Lake(protozoa:1238±63 ind./L,rotifers:6576±112 ind./L,cladocerans:1013±20 ind./L,copepod:534±25 ind./L).Canonical correspondence analysis identified differing environmental gradients that were most responsible for influencing zooplankton communities in the two lakes(Hongze Lake:NH4-N,total nitrogen,transparency and pH;Nansi:pH,temperature and total phosphorus).Frequent changes related to water transfer in lakes favoured the diversity of rotifers and protozoa communities.Zooplankton habitat preference,changes in community structure and opportunistic peaks and extinction of certain taxa were also observed in the study lakes.

Opportunistic-tended life history traits of Siniperca kneri in the Three Gorges Reservoir,China: potential responses to impoundment

Reservoir impoundment changes original fluvial habitats into lentic environments. Fish species adapted to lentic habitats may take the advantage of such habitat changes and show typical life history traits might facilitate the population increase. Siniperca kneri rarely occurred in fishery landing in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) area before its impoundment in 2003, but it is now a dominant species. In this study, a total of 438 females of S . kneri were collected monthly during September 2012 through January 2014 using gill nets in the TGR. The age, growth, and reproductive biology were then investigated, and compared with other S . kneri populations. The standard length at age 1 was 149.9 mm in the TGR, which is larger than the three compared populations (i.e., Sandaohe Reservoir, Xinfengjiang Reservoir, and North River), but smaller than one (the Guishi Reservoir). The youngest mature female in the TGR was age 1, which is younger than that of the two compared populations (i.e., Xinfengjiang Reservoir and the North River). The relative fecundity in the TGR was 140 eggs/g, which is higher than that of the only available compared population (Xinfengjiang Reservoir, 96 eggs/g). Our results demonstrated that S . kneri in the TGR tended to have faster growth in the first year, a younger age at first maturation, and higher reproductive eff ort. We suggest that such opportunistic-tended life history traits might facilitate rapid increase of the population.