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Morphology of the feeding apparatus in two oxudercine gobies, Parapocryptes serperaster (Richardson 1846) and Pseudapocryptes elongatus (Cuvier 1816)

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Abstract

Oxudercine gobies include fully aquatic to highly terrestrial species. In this study, we investigated the anatomy of the feeding apparatus of two species, Parapocryptes serperaster and Pseudapocryptes elongatus, both of which can be regarded as representing early stages of the transition from an aquatic to a terrestrial existence. The feeding system of these two species is morphologically similar: they both exhibit a unique orientation of premaxillary (vertical) and dentary (horizontal) teeth; a heterogeneous development of gill rakers among gill arches; strongly curved, large pharyngeal plates studded with numerous papilliform teeth; branchial basket skeletons with nearly equal gill-arch lengths; and a similar configuration of the branchial basket musculature. On the other hand, the number of teeth in Pa. serperaster is more than twice that in Pd. elongatus, both on the premaxillary and dentary bones, while the size of the teeth in Pa. serperaster is only half that in Pd. elongatus both in length and width. Pharyngeal plates and associated muscular and skeletal elements are more posteriorly positioned in Pd. elongatus. These similarities and differences may be explained by different trophic adaptations to herbivory and omnivory during the early transitional stages to life on mudflats. The results are discussed in the context of the two phylogenetic hypotheses of the oxudercine gobies based on their ecology and morphology and on genetic analysis.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Change history

  • 24 March 2022

    Error in the reference corrected.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Ms. Mizuri Murata (Institute for East China Sea Research, Nagasaki University) and Dr. Hieu Van Mai (College of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Can Tho University) for their help during the field study; Dr. Nguyen Van Cong, the Dean of the College of Environment and Natural Resources, Can Tho University and Dr. Tran Dac Dinh, the College of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Can Tho University for arranging our trips to Mo O and providing preserved specimens for complementary observations; and a local fisherman for collecting samples.

Funding

This study was partly supported by Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund “Conservation and cleaning up of MoO mudflat, Mekong river-mouth”.

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Author notes

  1. Atsushi Ishimatsu

    Present address: JICA CTU Project Office, Can Tho University, 3/2 Street, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City, Vietnam

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-14 Bunkyo-machi, Nagasaki, 852-8521, Japan

    Loi X. Tran, Kiyoshi Soyano & Atsushi Ishimatsu

  2. College of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Can Tho University, 3/2 Street, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City, Vietnam

    Loi X. Tran

  3. Institute for East China Sea Research, Organization for Marine Science and Technology, Nagasaki University, 1551-7 Taira-machi, Nagasaki, 851-2213, Japan

    Kiyoshi Soyano & Atsushi Ishimatsu

Authors
  1. Loi X. Tran
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  2. Kiyoshi Soyano
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Contributions

LXT contributed to the morphological analysis. LXT and AI contributed to writing the manuscript. All authors contributed to the final revision of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Loi X. Tran.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All experimental procedures were conducted with the permission of the Animal Care and Use Committee of the Institute for East China Sea Research, Nagasaki University, Japan (Permit Number #16-01).

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Supplementary Information

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435_2022_554_MOESM1_ESM.jpg

Supplementary file1 Fig. S1 Insertion of the retractor dorsalis to the fourth vertebra in Parapocryptes serperaster (a) and Pseudapocryptes elongatus (b). Symbols: RD retractor dorsalis, V1–V4 neural spines of the first to fourth vertebrae. Dashed lines show joints between vertebrae. (JPG 2669 KB)

Supplementary file2 Video S1 Pseudapocryptes elongatus feeding in shallow water. Recorded in a coastal pond in Bac Lieu Province, Vietnam in December 2013. (MP4 73802 KB)

Supplementary file3 Video S2 Oxuderces nexipinnis showing short excursions onto land. Recorded on a mudflat in Bac Lieu Province, Vietnam in October 2013. (MP4 18571 KB)

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Tran, L.X., Soyano, K. & Ishimatsu, A. Morphology of the feeding apparatus in two oxudercine gobies, Parapocryptes serperaster (Richardson 1846) and Pseudapocryptes elongatus (Cuvier 1816). Zoomorphology 141, 183–196 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-022-00554-8

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