Abstract
The ecological characteristics of the eight-barbel loach Lefua tokaiensis Ito, Hosoya, and Miyazaki were elucidated. Ecological field research was conducted at two localities: the montane stream of Houraiji and the Arao River of the Toyo River system in the Tokai region of Japan. The two localities showed high population density of L. tokaiensis, consisting of young-to-aged individuals. Loaches were likely to reproduce and migrate both upstream and downstream throughout year. Their lifespan was over 10 years, and loaches of more than ten generations simultaneously lived together. Growth rates slowed down strikingly with increasing age. The montane stream of Houraiji was suitable for the population of L. tokaiensis. The results of this study contribute to the protection of this endangered species.
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Acknowledgements
The experiments comply with the current laws of Japan. We thank Dr. Y Serisawa, Mr. S Okuyama, Mr. T Maruyama, Mr. T Morisawa, Ms. A Gomi, Ms. A Matsuzaki, Ms. A Komori, Mr. Y Tabata, Mr. T Ozaki, and Mr. M Nakazawa for their help with the data collection. We express our sincere thanks to Dr. K Hosoya, Dr. T Ito, Dr. S Aoyama, Ms. K Muraoaka, Dr. K Tojo, Mr. T Asaka, Mr. O Inaba, Mr. K Kirihara, and Mr. S Nakamura for their assistance in collecting the loaches and for providing useful information on their biology. We sincerely thank Ms. A Enomoto and Dr. H Aiki for instructing us on how to mark the loaches. This study was supported in part by a grant from the 2021 to 2022 Fuji Film Green Fund.
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10201_2024_742_MOESM1_ESM.pptx
Supplementary file1 Fig. S1 Numbers of individuals captured every year in Zone 2 of the Houraiji stream. The numbers of individuals captured every year are shown relative to the total length in Zone 2 of the Houraiji stream. (PPTX 170 KB)
10201_2024_742_MOESM2_ESM.pptx
Supplementary file2 Fig. S2 Numbers of individuals captured every year in the Arao River. The numbers of individuals captured every year are shown relative to the total length in the Arao River. (PPTX 163 KB)
10201_2024_742_MOESM3_ESM.pptx
Supplementary file3 Fig. S3 Numbers of individuals relative to the total length in Zone 1 of the Houraiji stream. The numbers of individuals relative to the total length are shown in (a) and the numbers of individuals captured every year relative to the total length are shown in (b)-(c). (PPTX 290 KB)
10201_2024_742_MOESM4_ESM.pptx
Supplementary file4 Fig. S4 Numbers of individuals relative to the total length in Zone 3 of the Houraiji stream. The numbers of individuals relative to the total length are shown in (a) and the numbers of individuals captured every year relative to the total length are shown in (b)-(f). (PPTX 110 KB)
10201_2024_742_MOESM5_ESM.pptx
Supplementary file5 Fig. S5 Numbers of individuals relative to the total length. The numbers of individuals relative to the total length are shown in Zone 2 of the Houraiji stream (a) and the Arao River (b). The total numbers of captured loaches were 3150 for 10 years in the Houraiji stream and 1406 for 8 years in the Arao River. Loaches were captured by three persons for 30 min in each survey. In the Houraiji stream, the total number of loaches captured was 2994 in 60 surveys. Loaches were additionally captured after 30-min execution. The total number additionally captured was 156. (PPTX 130 KB)
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Miyazaki, JI., Ogata, K., Takano, A. et al. Ten-year ecological investigation into eight-barbel loach, Lefua tokaiensis (Nemacheilidae, Cypriniformes). Limnology (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-024-00742-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-024-00742-z