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Reproductive Ecology and Host Utilization of Four Sympatric Bitterling (Acheilognathinae, Cyprinidae) in a Lowland Reach of the Harai River in Mie, Japan

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Abstract

Bitterling are fishes that use freshwater mussels for oviposition. The reproductive ecology and pattern of mussel utilization of four sympatric species of bitterling, Acheilognathus rhombeus, A. tabira tabira, Tanakia lanceolata, and T. limbata, were investigated in a lowland river with seven sympatric mussel species. Three bitterling species are spring spawners with overlapping spawning seasons. A. rhombeus is an autumn-spawning species and is temporally isolated in its reproduction from the other species. Ovipositor length during oviposition of T. limbata and T. lanceolata was short, while those of A. tabira tabira and A. rhombeus were long. Most T. limbata inhabited near-shore areas, whereas the two other spring-spawning species were distributed across the entire river. All bitterling species used Inversidens brandti, Obovalis omiensis and Inversiunio jokohamensis as spawning hosts, but not the other mussel species available. T. lanceolata, A. tabira tabira and A. rhombeus showed spawning preferences for O. omiensis and I. brandti. However, T. limbata did not show clear preferences for any of the mussel species they used. A. t. tabira showed a significant preference for large I. brandti in offshore areas, while the other spring-spawning bitterling showed a preference for mussels inshore. These results are discussed in the context of reproductive resource partitioning.

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful to M. Hori, Y. Nagata and T. Kondo, Associate T. Sota and K. Watanabe, A Satoh, H. Nishi and other members of the Laboratory of Animal Ecology, Kyoto University, and members of the Laboratory of Animal Ecology, Osaka Kyoiku University, for their support and assistance in field surveys; K. Kawamura (Faculty of Bioresources, Mie University) for comments and help in bioassays of DNA. I also thank C. Smith of the Department of Biology, University of Leicester for his useful suggestions and assistance with English in the manuscript. This study was partly supported by the Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant from the Japan Science Society and Fujiwara Natural History Foundation.

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  1. Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwakecho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto , 606-8502, Japan

    Jyun-ichi Kitamura

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Kitamura, Ji. Reproductive Ecology and Host Utilization of Four Sympatric Bitterling (Acheilognathinae, Cyprinidae) in a Lowland Reach of the Harai River in Mie, Japan. Environ Biol Fish 78, 37–55 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-006-9076-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-006-9076-6

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