Abstract
The spawning pattern and relationship to body size at maturation of amphidromous and land-locked forms of ayu,Plecoglossus altivelis, was investigated. Ovarian eggs of prespawning females showed a multimodal size distribution, regardles of body size, indicating that all the females were potentially a batch spawners. The spawning schedules of individual fish were described under simulated spawning conditions. Most large-sized females died soon after their first spawning, whereas approximately half of the medium and small-sized females successfully completed a second spawning some two weeks after the first. Such a size-specific spawning pattern was common to both forms, but development of a third batch of ovarian eggs after the second spawning occurred only in the land-locked form. Spawning tactics in ayu were related to offspring survival and adult mortality during spawning season.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Azuma M. 1970. Studies on the variability of the landlocked ayu-fish,Plecoglossus altivelis T. et S., in Lake Biwa I. On the mode of distribution and some body form variation at early phases of development. Japan. J. Ecol., 20: 63–76. (In Japanese with English synopsis.)
Azuma, M. 1973a. Studies on the variability of the landlocked ayu-fish,Plecoglossus altivelis T. et S., in Lake Biwa II. On the segregation of population and the variations in each population. Japan. J. Ecol., 23: 126–139. (In Japanese with English synopsis.)
Azuma, M. 1973b. Studies on the variability of the landlocked ayu-fish,Plecoglossus altivelis T. et S., in Lake Biwa IV. Considerations on the grouping and features of variability. Japan. J. Ecol., 23: 255–265. (In Japanese with English synopsis.)
Calow, P. and A. S. Woollhead. 1977. The relationship between ration, reproductive effort and agespecific mortality in the evolution of life-history strategies—some observations on freshwater triclads. J. Anim. Ecol., 46: 765–781.
Iguchi, K. 1993. Latitudinal variation in ayu egg size. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi, 59: 2087.
Iguchi, K. and T. Hino. In press. Effect of competitor abundance of feeding territoriality in a grazing fish, the ayuPlecoglossus altivelis. Ecol. Res.
Iguchi, K. and M. Yamaguchi 1994. Adaptive significance of inter- and intrapopulational egg size variation in ayuPlecoglossus altivelis (Osmeridae). Copeia, 1994: 184–190.
Ishida, R. 1962. On the spawning of the ayu,Plecoglossus altivelis T. & S.-III. Relationships between the size of spawners and the depth of water of the spawning ground. Bull. Japan. Soc. Sci. Fish., 28: 399–404 (In Japanese with English abstract.)
Ishida, R. 1967. On the spawning of the ayu,Plecoglossus altivelis T. & S.-V. Structure of spawning ground. Bull. Freshwat. Fish. Res. Lab., 17: 7–19 (In Japanese with English synopsis.)
Jonsson, N., B. Jonsson and L. P. Hansen. 1991. Energetic cost of spawning in male and female Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) J. Fish Biol., 39: 739–744.
Kawanabe, H. 1970. Social behaviour and production of ayu-fish in the River Ukawa between 1955 and 1969, with reference to the stability of its territoriality. Japan. J. Ecol., 20: 144–151. (In Japanese with English synopsis.)
Matsuyama, M. and S. Matsuura. 1982. Ovarian maturation and ovulation of the amphidromous type ayuPlecoglossus altivelis in Chikugo River based on histological observation. Bull. Japan. Soc. Sci. Fish., 48: 1573–1582. (In Japanese with English abstract.)
Matsuyama, M. and S. Matsuura. 1984. The mode of ovarian maturation and spawning of the landlocked dwarf ayuPlecoglossus altivelis in Lake Biwa. Bull. Japan. Soc. Sci. Fish., 50: 225–231. (In Japanese with English abstract.)
Matsuyama, M. and S. Matsuura 1985. On the ovarian maturation and spawning of the landlocked large type ayuPlecoglossus altivelis in Lake Biwa. Bull. Japan. Soc. Sci. Fish., 51: 691–698.
Pastene, L.A., K. Numachi and K. Tsukamoto. 1991. Examination of reproductive success of transplanted stocks in an amphidromous fish,Plecoglossus altivelis (Temmink et Schlegel) using mitochondrial DNA and isozyme markers. J. Fish Biol., 39: 93–100.
Sakai, H., K. Katsura, T. Hirata and A. Goto. 1991. Multiple spawning in amphidromous ayu,Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis, from Hokkaido, Japan. Bull. Fac. Fish. Hokkaido Univ., 42: 39–45. (In Japanese with English abstract.)
Schaffer, W. M.. 1979. The theory of life-history evolution and its application to Atlantic salmon. Symp. Zool. Soc. Lond., 44: 307–326.
Smith, C. C. and S. D. Fretwell. 1974. The optimal balance between size and number of offspring. Am. Nat., 108: 499–506.
Trexler, J. C., R. C. Tempe and J. Travis. 1994. Sizeselective predation of sailfin mollies by two species of heron. Oikos, 69: 250–258.
Tsukamoto, K., R. Ishida, K. Naka and T. Kajihara 1987. Switching of size and migratory pattern in successive generations of landlocked ayu. Am. Fish. Soc. Symp., 1: 492–506.
Weeks, S. C. 1993. Phenotypic plasticity of life-history traits in clonal an sexual fish (Poeciliopsis) at high and low densities. Oecologia, 93: 307–314.
Wootton, R. J. 1990. Ecology of teleost fishes. Chapman & Hall, London. 404 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Iguchi, K. Size-specific spawing pattern in ayu,Plecoglossus altivelis . Ichthyological Research 43, 193–198 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02347591
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02347591