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Intestinal morphology in oily bitterlings (Cyprinidae: Acheilognathinae)

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Abstract

We evaluated inter- and intraspecific variations of the intestinal coiling patterns and intestinal length of the oily bitterlings, Tanakia limbata, Tanakia koreensis, Tanakia somjinensis, and Tanakia signifer. All the oily bitterling species shared a unique intestinal coiling pattern, expressed as an oval shaped loop. The ratio of the intestinal length to standard length varied among species, viz., both T. koreensis and T. signifer have significantly longer intestines than T. limbata and T. somjinensis. The intestinal length may be a useful diagnostic character between two sibling species, T. koreensis and T. somjinensis, although we observed intraspecific variation in the intestinal length of T. limbata and T. koreensis among collection sites.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Prof. I.-S. Kim and Prof. J.-Y. Park (Chonbuk National University) for supplying materials. We also thank the students and graduate students at the Ichthyology Laboratory, Chonbuk National University, for their assistance with the collection of the specimens. We would like to thank Prof. K. Yamaoka (Kochi University) and Y. Kubo and T. Kitagawa (Kinki University) for their useful advice throughout the study. Ms. S. Kanoh assisted us with English corrections.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Kinki University, 3327-204 Nakamachi, Nara, Nara, 631-8505, Japan

    Hitomi Yamano, Hiroaki Takeuchi & Kazumi Hosoya

  2. National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, Gapyeong, 477-815, Korea

    Chi-Hong Kim

Authors
  1. Hitomi Yamano
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  2. Chi-Hong Kim
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  3. Hiroaki Takeuchi
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  4. Kazumi Hosoya
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Correspondence to Hitomi Yamano.

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Yamano, H., Kim, CH., Takeuchi, H. et al. Intestinal morphology in oily bitterlings (Cyprinidae: Acheilognathinae). Ichthyol Res 60, 80–84 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-012-0307-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-012-0307-x

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