青岛海域小眼绿鳍鱼耳石形态的初步研究

利用2002年6～12月期间采自青岛海域商业渔获的286尾小眼绿鳍鱼(Chelidonichthys spinosus)标本,以耳石长、耳石宽、周长、面积、矩形趋近率、充实度为基本形态学参数,结合其中傅里叶变换获得的形态特征变量,研究了小眼绿鳍鱼幼鱼生长过程耳石形态的逐月变化特征.结果显示,小眼绿鳍鱼耳石为不规则卵圆形或近四边形,背部弧状隆起,腹部相对略平,前部有一明显缺刻,后部常呈锯齿状尖突.小眼绿鳍鱼耳石长、耳石重、耳石面积皆与体长呈显著相关,耳石长宽比与体长不呈显著相关.随着小眼绿鳍鱼生长,该鱼耳石形态特征随月份变化差异显著;经多因子方差分析和判别分析表明,研究期间小眼绿鳍鱼耳石形态可分为3个特征区间:6月份与其他月份间形态差异显著;7～9月耳石形态特征处于变化间状态;10～12月各方面形态特征趋于稳定.     

中国天竺鲷属鱼类的矢耳石形态特征

利用采自我国近海的105尾标本,分析了细条天竺鲷、宽条天竺鲷、黑鳃天竺鲷、黑边天竺鲷、垂带天竺鲷、四线天竺鲷、半线天竺鲷、斑鳍天竺鲷等8种天竺鲷属鱼类的矢耳石形态特征。8种鱼类矢耳石前部均较尖,后部略圆钝,背部呈折线状,腹部呈圆弧形,背部中央有缺刻,听沟宽阔;8种鱼耳石长宽比的比值为1.35~1.63,矩形趋近率为0.67~0.77,充实度为14.77~24.99。以上述三种形态学参数为基础进行聚类分析,可将8种鱼类分为3组:细条天竺鲷、宽条天竺鲷、黑边天竺鲷、黑鳃天竺鲷为一组;垂带天竺鲷、四线天竺鲷、半线天竺鲷为一组;斑鳍天竺鲷为一组。耳石听沟边缘走向、宽度以及耳石外部边缘光滑度等轮廓特征在8种天竺鲷属鱼类间呈显著的种间差异。以这些形态特征为基础,编制了8种天竺鲷属鱼类的检索表,检索表表现的种间分类关系特征与聚类分析结果基本一致。     

黄海南部野生银鲳和鮸鱼的耳石元素微化学研究

利用电子显微探针元素分析技术(EPMA)对黄海南部野生银鲳和鮸鱼的耳石进行了锶和钙沉积特征的初步分析。定量线分析结果表明,两种鱼类耳石的Sr/Ca之间存在显著的种间差异。银鲳耳石Sr/Ca比,在耳石核心及相邻处为低值区(5.86±0.92);3段Sr/Ca高值区分别为近核心部(7.88±1.28)、第1龄处(9.44±1.82)及耳石边缘(7.91±1.38);揭示银鲳孵化和早期发育应需要盐度适中的生境,当龄鱼在后期的生长中需洄游经过两段高盐生境(其中之一在第1龄时)。鮸鱼耳石Sr/Ca比波动表现为耳石核心处(7.72±0.97)高于其余部分,反映了鮸鱼孵化及初期发育阶段可能生活在高盐度生境,而当龄鱼随后阶段的生长和发育过程则会洄游至盐度有所降低的生境中进行。     

青岛沿海24种鱼类耳石秤量特征与鱼体大小关系

研究中经常会用测量耳石称量特征推算饵料鱼类的形态参数,而青岛沿海鱼类相关的研究较少,因此作者根据2015年3、5、8月3个航次在青岛近海的拖网调查数据,分析了捕获的24种共1002尾鱼的耳石秤量特征(耳石长、耳石宽和耳石质量)和鱼体大小(体长、体质量)的关系。结果表明,渔获24种鱼类分属5个目、14个科、24种鱼类的体长体质量呈显著幂函数相关,相关系数R~2的范围为0.779～0.997,幂指数b的范围为2.376～3.591,平均值为3.048±0.327,其中黄鲫(Setipinna taty)等11种鱼类的b值均大于3(P0.05),为正异速生长,其余13种鱼类的b值小于3(P0.05),呈负异速增长。耳石宽-鱼体长的相关性比耳石长-鱼体长的相关性要好,仅有3种鱼(饰鳍斜棘鱼衔(Repomucenus ornatipinnis)、矛尾虾虎鱼(Chaeturichthys stigmatias)和焦氏舌鳎Cynoglossus lighti)未呈现显著相关关系。在耳石质量-鱼体质量的相关关系中,9种鱼(如皮氏叫姑(Johnius belengerii)、扁斜棘?(Repomucenus planus)、石鲽(Kareius bicoloratus)呈显著相关(只是列举了一部分), 5种鱼(锦鳚(Pholis nebulosus)、矛尾虾虎鱼(Chaeturichthys stigmatias)、斑尾刺虾虎鱼(Synechogobius ommaturus)、焦氏舌鳎(Cynoglossus lighti))在现有样品情况下未呈现显著相关关系。     

Using otolith weight to predict the age of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pennahia macrocephalus</Emphasis> in the mouth of the Beibu Gulf

The relation between otolith weight (OW) and the age of marine fish is studied. A total of 222 individuals of bighead white croaker, Pennahia macrocephalus were sampled seasonally in the mouth of the Beibu Gulf, the South China Sea, in 2007. Since there are no significant differences in sagittal OW between otolith in pairs (P≥0.05), the undamaged left sagittal otolith is used for age determination. The highest correlations among standard length, OW and fish ages are confirmed by linear, exponential and multinomial regression. Results show that sagittal OW overlaps only occasionally among age groups, and to individuals with similar standard length, the older and slower-growing fish has a heavier otolith because of the continued otolith material deposition. There are differences in sagittal OW among different age groups and significant positive linear relationship with age (P<0.05). The age readings can be verified by plotting the sagittal OW versus the standard length for age groups, and the individuals with similar standard length but in different ages can be separated by sagittal OW frequency analysis. Mostly, the predicted ages using the regression between sagittal OW and ages are closed to the observed ages by counting annulus on scale. It indicates that the sagittal OW analysis is a useful technique for validating the accuracy of age determination by annuli counts, especially for individuals of similar size. Furthermore, the technique is applied for Pennahia macrocephalus with discussion in this paper. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30771653) and Bureau of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture     

Habitat selection and quality for multiple cohorts of young-of-the-year bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix): Comparisons between estuarine and ocean beaches in southern New Jersey

In this study, seasonal and annual variability in the use of estuarine and ocean beaches by young-of-the-year bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, was evaluated by indices of abundance in coastal areas of southern New Jersey (1998–2000). Biological and physical factors measured at specific sites were correlated with bluefish abundance to determine the mechanisms underlying habitat selection. In addition, integrative and discrete indicators of bluefish growth were used to examine spatio-temporal dynamics in habitat quality and its effect on habitat selection by multiple cohorts of bluefish. Intra-annual recruitment to coastal areas of southern New Jersey was episodic, and resulted from the ingress of spring-spawned bluefish (hatch-date April) to estuarine beaches in late May to early June, followed by the recruitment of summer-spawned fish (hatch-date early July) to ocean beaches from July to October. Bluefish utilized estuarine and ocean beaches in a facultative manner that was responsive to dynamics in prey composition and temperature conditions. The recruitment and residency of bluefish in the estuary (1998–1999) and ocean beaches (1998), for example, was coincidental with the presence of the Atlantic silverside Menidia menidia and bay anchovy Anchoa mitchilli, the principal prey species for bluefish occupying these respective habitat-types. Bluefish abundance in the estuary (2000) and ocean beaches (1999–2000) was also correlated with water temperature, with the greatest catches of juveniles coinciding with their optimal growth temperature (24 °C). Bluefish growth, estimated as the slope of age–length relationships and daily specific growth rates, equaled 1.27–2.63 mm fork length (FL) d⁻¹ and 3.8–8.7% body length increase d⁻¹, respectively. The growth of sagittal otoliths was also used as a proxy for changes in bluefish size during and shortly before their time of capture. Accordingly, otolith growth rates of summer-spawned bluefish were greater at ocean beaches relative to the estuary and were explained by the more suitable temperature conditions found at ocean beaches during the mid- to late summer. Notwithstanding the fast growth of oceanic summer-spawned bluefish, individuals spawned in the spring were still larger in absolute body size at the end of the summer growing season (240 and 50–200 mm FL for spring- and summer-spawned bluefish, respectively). The size discrepancy between spring- and summer-spawned bluefish at the onset of autumn migrations and during overwintering periods may account for the differential recruitment success of the respective cohorts.     

Otolith Microstructure Analysis Reveals Different Growth Histories of Japanese Sardine (Sardinops melanostictus) in the Oyashio Waters

After decades of low year classes,the stock of Japanese sardine(Sardinops melanostictus)has begun to recover since the mid-2000s.The hatch dates and otolith growth rates of age-0 juvenile sardine,which were collected in the subarctic Oyashio waters in autumn 2018,were determined from an otolith microstructure analysis.The sardines were hatched from late January to late April,while mostly in February and March.The otolith growth rate increased continuously up to 60 d after hatching and thereafter de-creased.The revealed growth rate in a crucial growth period is faster than that reported for juvenile sardines collected in the 1990s,which is coincided with the recent recovery trend of the sardine stock.Two groups with different hatch dates,growth histories,and migration routes were identified using unsupervised random forest clustering analysis.They were considered inshore and offshore migration individuals in accordance with recent researches.In the offshore group,a high proportion of sardine juveniles hatched late and grew faster in the Kuroshio-Oyashio transitional waters,a finding consistent with the hypothesis of growth-rate-dependent re-cruitment.This finding on the population composition and growth rate of juvenile sardine in the Oyashio waters can be a basis for an improved prediction of their survival and provides us with valuable information on the recruitment processes of this stock during the period of stock recovery.