Studies on the life history of the Aburahaya, Moroco steindachneri steindachneri (Sauvage), in northern Kyushu. I

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  • 北九州におけるアブラハヤの生活史-I
  • 北九州におけるアブラハヤの生活史-1-
  • キタキュウシュウ ニ オケル アブラハヤ ノ セイカツシ 1

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Abstract

The Aburahaya, Moroco steindachneri steindachneri (Sauvage), is a cyprinid fish, distributed widely in Japan except in Hokkaido. This fish prefers to rather lower water temperature and is found in the upper and middle course of the rivers. In the present paper the authors reported mainly external features, food and early life history of this fish in northern Kyushu, especially in Haccho River, a tributary of Muromi River, near Fukuoka City, through 1958 to 1959 (Fig. 4). Although some local forms of the Aburahaya have been reported, the characteristics of the fish in this district coincide approximately with Moroco steindachneri steindachneri which is adopted by Matsubara (1955) (Tab. 2). The adults are found usually in the pools and the stagnant waters in the river and are very active in summer. They have a tendency to become quiescent in winter and are hiding among the aquatic plants and under the stones on the shore. The intestinal contents of this fish were examined in May (Tab. 4). This fish is omnivorous and the most important food is aquatic insect. The spawning occurred from April to August in this district at 12-20℃ (Fig. 3). The authors observed the nuptial coloration in male; a grey or black band arising on the snout and terminating at the base of the caudal fin (Fig. 5). The courtship was observed in the aquarium and the eggs were spawned in the sandy bed. The egg is spherical in shape, 2.1-2.3 mm in diameter with yellow yolk and slightly adhesive. The egg membrane is transparent, but becomes opaque in the course of the development. The incubation period continued for 3 days at the water temperature about 20℃. Newly hatched larvae are about 5.1 mm in total length (Fig. 6, C), and in 10 days after hatching the larvae almost consumed the yolk (Fig. 6, D) and in this stage they seem to swim out from the spawning bed in natural condition. The larvae hatching in May attained about 60 mm in total length in December. Field observations on larva, juvenile and young fish during summer season reveal that they are tend to change their habitats from the shallows to the deeps as their growth (Fig. 7).

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