Abstract
Vertical hydrological connectivity between the surface stream and benthic and hyporheic zones plays a key ecological role in the biodiversity of lotic ecosystems because it allows surface and benthic organisms to use the hyporheic zone as a seasonal habitat and refuge. Use of the hyporheic zone by surface/benthic organisms has been well studied in invertebrates, but little is known about the importance of this connectivity for fishes. We investigated streambed surface and hyporheic densities (5–10, 15–20 and 20–25 cm below the streambed surface) of a stream fish, Cobitis shikokuensis, over a 20-month period in the Shigenobu River, southwestern Japan, to test the hypothesis that it uses the hyporheic zone for spawning and overwintering. In total, 1,804 individuals (13–58 mm total length) were captured from 33 streambed surface samplings and 102 individuals (10–46 mm total length) were present in 1,147 samples of 57 hyporheic samplings. Population densities in both zones peaked in late summer–early autumn due to the recruitment of age 0+ fish and a female with eggs was found in the hyporheic zone during the reproductive season. Both 0+ and older fish were absent from the streambed surface during winter, and fish densities were also lower in the hyporheic zone at this time. However, the vertical distribution of the fish tended to be skewed towards the deeper hyporheic layers from autumn to spring. These findings indicate that C. shikokuensis vertically migrates between the streambed surface and the hyporheic zone for spawning, rearing and overwintering, suggesting that the integrity of vertical hydrological connectivity in lotic systems is crucial for certain fish species.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank H. Okumura, K. Nakashima, H. Nakano, T. Sakai, T. Shimizu, K. Omori and H. Onishi for the development of sampling methods and technical advice, and S. Suekuni, R. Tagashira and Y. Shiota for their assistance in the field. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments that improved the manuscript. This work was supported by the Zoshinkai Fund for the Protection of Endangered Animals, Grants-in-Aid for Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellows (23·9280 to R.K.) and for Young Scientists (B) (22710237 to Y.M.) and partly by the Environmental Research and Technology Development Fund (S9) of the Ministry of Environment, Japan. The survey in this study was conducted with the permission of Ehime Prefectural Government and complied with the current laws in Japan.
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Kawanishi, R., Dohi, R., Fujii, A. et al. Vertical migration in streams: seasonal use of the hyporheic zone by the spinous loach Cobitis shikokuensis . Ichthyol Res 64, 433–443 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-017-0576-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-017-0576-5