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Life-history variations in the fluvial sculpin, Cottus nozawae (Cottidae), along the course of a small mountain stream

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Abstract

Life-history variations in male and female fluvial sculpins, Cottus nozawae, were studied in a small mountain stream in Hokkaido, Japan, primarily by using capture-mark-recapture methods. At three study areas established along the stream course, the majority of marked sculpins were recaptured in their original location over one or more years, indicating their long-term occupation of each restricted habitat area. Sculpin densities increased toward the upstream habitats, whereas individual growth rates were more rapid downstream. In both sexes, sculpins distributed downstream matured at a larger body size and later in life than upstream sculpins, clearly demonstrating a clinal variation in these respects. A comparison of life-history variations in C. nozawae with those in amphidromous C. hangiongensis suggests that intrapopulational life-history variations in the former might be environmentally induced, and that one of the most important determinants for the variations in Cottus species might be population density.

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  1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University, 3-1-1 Minatocho, Hakodate, 041, Japan

    Akira Goto

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  1. Akira Goto
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Goto, A. Life-history variations in the fluvial sculpin, Cottus nozawae (Cottidae), along the course of a small mountain stream. Environmental Biology of Fishes 52, 203–212 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007347631573

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