Abstract
The age, growth, reproductive condition, and occurrence of natural hybrids of two Nematalosa species around Okinawa Island were examined using 128 specimens obtained from April 2003 to June 2004. Standard length (SL) reached approximately 150–210 mm within the first 2 years, and then remained stagnant. The maximum age for both sexes was ca. 5 years old. Maturity sizes and ages were estimated to be at least 173.2 mm SL and 2 years old for females and 192.6 mm SL and 3 years old for males. Spawnable individuals were mainly observed from January to March based on histological observations of gonads. Natural hybrids appeared at all sampling sites except for the Haneji Inlet and were dominant at Makiminato (in south-central Okinawa Island). Their incidence was also quite high (66.9%) in the Makiminato population, when compared with records for other marine fishes around Japan. In Okinawa Island, these shallow areas are rapidly decreasing in size because of recent reclamation and land exploitation. Hybrid production may be caused by not only the reproductive biology and sympatric distributions of the parent species but also recent environmental changes.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Emeritus Prof. S. Shokita and Associate Prof. T. Yoshino (University of the Ryukyus) for their kind support and useful advice. The authors thank Dr. A. Ebisawa (Okinawa Prefectural Fisheries and Ocean Research Center) for providing technical comments throughout this research and for critically reading this manuscript; Mr. K. Nakazato (Urasoe-Ginowan Fisheries Cooperative Association), Mr. Y. Kohatsu (Sashiki-Nakagusuku Fisheries Cooperative Association), Mr. Z. Touyama, and Mr. S. Touyama (Okinawa City Fisheries Cooperative Association), for collecting fresh specimens, Mr. I. Irei (Haneji Fisheries Cooperative Association), Mr. H. Ikeda, Mr. H. Komine, Mr. M. Ishimine, Mr. T. Maehara, and Mr. S. Nakasone (Okinawa City Fisheries Cooperative Association) for helpful support in obtaining and processing specimens, and the members of the Laboratory of Fisheries Biology & Coral Reef Studies (University of the Ryukyus) for their accommodating support during sampling. The authors are also grateful to Dr. N. Mochioka (University of the Kyusyu) and two anonymous reviewers for providing insightful comments to improve the manuscript. This research was supported in part by the Mikimoto Fund for Marine Ecology and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (subject no. 22580206, representative: Katsunori Tachihara) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.
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Uehara, M., Kashiwagi, F., Imai, H. et al. Biological traits of naturally induced hybrid individuals of two gizzard shads, Nematalosa come and N. japonica, in coastal waters around Okinawa Island, Ryukyu Archipelago, southwestern Japan. Ichthyol Res 58, 344–349 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-011-0237-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-011-0237-z