双斑东方鲀全人工繁殖试验

对野生双斑东方鲀(Takifugu bimaculatus)人工繁殖的子一代进行人工培育,雌鱼须经三年性腺成熟,成熟系数为17.55%,雄鱼性腺成熟为两年。产卵前一个月,雌亲鱼经强化培育、催熟后,成熟系数可达到25.00%。对7组亲鱼注射LRH-A_2激素,共获鱼苗1.2048×10~6尾,其中全人工繁殖鱼苗9.592×10~5尾,对照组获鱼苗2.456×10~5尾。并就双斑东方鲀性成熟年龄等进行讨论。     

长江中游黄石江段四大家鱼早期资源现状

2015年和2016年每年的5—7月,在长江中游黄石江段对四大家鱼早期资源开展了调查,以了解该江段四大家鱼早期资源及产卵场分布现状。调查期间共采集四大家鱼卵67粒,苗23 948尾,种类以鲢和草鱼为主,分别占四大家鱼卵苗总捕捞数量的77.0%和18.1%。2015年和2016年,估算通过黄石江段的四大家鱼卵径流量分别为0.20×108粒、4.69×108粒,鱼苗径流量分别为19.40×108尾、13.65×108尾。黄石江段四大家鱼产卵场主要分布在团风李家洲、鄂州城区、鄂州戴家洲和黄石道士袱4个江段。与历史资料相比,黄石江段四大家鱼产卵场分布位置没有发生明显的变动。建议开展增殖放流活动,并在航道整治等工程建设中注重保护洲滩等生境。     

Effects of dietary keto-carotenoids (canthaxanthin and astaxanthin) on the reproductive performance of female rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum)

The aim of this study was to clarify further the relationship between dietary keto-carotenoids (canthaxanthin and astaxanthin) and reproductive performance in female rainbow trout. Three experiments were undertaken in three successive breeding seasons. In addition to a control diet, fish were fed a canthaxanthin-supplemented diet (200 mg canthaxanthin kg⁻¹ feed, designated as 6mC200) for 6 months prior to spawning (experiment A); the same diet as in A but for either 3 months (3mC200) or 6 months (6mC200) before spawning (experiment B); diets with one of two levels of astaxanthin supplementation, 50 mg (6mA50) or 100 mg (6mA100) kg⁻¹ feed, or a diet with 100 mg canthaxanthin kg⁻¹ feed (6mC100) fed for 6 months (experiment C).
There was no significant influence of carotenoid supplementation on either the frequency of maturing females or the date of maturation. The number of ova per kg of female body weight averaged 2700 and did not vary significantly among fish fed the different diets. Across experiments A, B and C there was no significant difference in egg and larval survival among fish fed carotenoid-supplemented and control diets. In experiment A, 6mC200 females produced smaller eggs than controls but this result was not confirmed in experiments B and C. In general, eyed egg yield appeared partly dependent upon egg size. Alevin weight was also correlated with egg weight. The growth test conducted on fingerlings from experiment B failed to provide any evidence of an effect of feeding carotenoid supplemented diets to the female parent. Pigment analyses conducted on alevins revealed that canthaxanthin fed to the female parent was transferred into the eggs and therefore to the larvae, although canthaxanthin was metabolized within a few weeks after hatching.     

Sex organ extracts and artificial hormonal compounds as sex pheromones to attract broodfish and to induce spawning of Chinese black sleeper (Bostrichthys sinensis Lacépède)

Ovarian, testicular and seminal vesicle extracts of mature Chinese black sleeper (Bostrichthys sinensis Lacepede), synthetic steroids 17α‐progesterone (17α‐P), 17α,20β‐dihydroxy‐4‐pregnen‐3one (17α,20β‐P) and prostaglandins PGE₂ and PGF_2α were used in an attempt to attract broodfish and to induce spawning. Furthermore, 17α‐P, PGE₂ and PGF_2α levels were determined in extracts, and PGE₂ and PGF_2α levels were determined in holding and spawning waters. The results showed that ovarian extracts attracted more males than females to enter artificial nests, while testicular and seminal vesicle extracts attracted more females than males. The highest percentage of spawned nests were found when 17α,20β‐P and PGE₂ were administered to the nests, while the largest egg numbers and the mean highest fertilization rate were observed when PGE₂ was added. In ovarian extract, 17α‐P level was higher than levels in testicular or seminal vesicle extracts. The PGE₂ levels were significantly (P<0.05) higher than PGF_2α in the ovarian, testicular and seminal vesicle extracts. The PGE₂ and PGF_2α levels in spawning waters were higher than those in holding waters. The PGE₂ levels were greatly significantly (P<0.01) higher than PGF_2α in spawning and in holding waters. The results suggest that the sex organs of B. sinensis contain 17α‐P, 17α, 20β‐P, PGE₂ and PGF_2α and that 17α‐P, 17α,20β‐P and PGE₂ may act as sex pheromones in this species, attracting both male and female conspesifics to spawning sites and inducing spawning. Among the compounds tested, PGE₂ was the most effective sex pheromone for induction of spawning in B. sinensis.     

Migration,homing and spatial ecology of common carp in interconnected lakes

The common carp, Cyprinus carpio, is a large, long-lived, fecund and mobile cyprinid, which evolved in complex inter-braided Ponto-Caspian rivers that experience both springtime flooding and freezing winters. Studies suggest adults often move to productive, shallow lakes and floodplains to spawn because they often lack egg predators and then return to deeper normoxic waters to overwinter. Whether these movements involve individuals consistently selecting, or homing to, the same spawning and refuge lakes as part of a strategy benefiting their reproductive success is unknown. To address this question, we examined the movements of 67 radio-tagged adult carp for 3 years in a watershed with 11 interconnected lakes. Carp were tagged and released into a centrally located, normoxic deep lake in spring and fall. Each spring over 95% of its adults left via a single stream and swam into one of 5 shallow lakes, with most individuals (84%) selecting the same lake(s) in which to spawn each year (median Bhattacharyya affinity coefficient of similarity of 0.82). Young were later found in those lakes without egg predators, which cannot survive winter anoxia. After spawning, carp spent summers moving between productive lakes in an individualistic fashion, presumably foraging, with most (89%) eventually returning to the same deep lake to overwinter (median Bhattacharyya affinity of 1.0). These movements appear to reveal a life-history tactic involving seasonal homing migration, first to a spawning location and later to winter refuges, that is well adapted to productive but highly heterogeneous and interconnected freshwater environments.     

Reproductive resilience or sweepstakes recruitment? Assessing drivers of lifetime reproductive success in exploited marine fish

Understanding the processes that drive reproductive success in marine fish stocks is critical to effective fisheries management. These processes can be difficult to investigate, especially in age-structured populations, because they occur at transgenerational scales. Reproductive success is often attributed to a small portion of the adult population (<0.01%) and thought to be driven primarily by random external factors, consistent with the concept of sweepstake reproductive success (SRS). A competing concept, the reproductive resilience paradigm, posits that fishes have evolved complex spawner-recruit systems to achieve lifetime reproductive success and maintain population stability within highly variable environments. Here, we examine these two concepts. First, we analyse the popular sport fish red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus, Sciaenidae), drawing on genetic and reproductive data to estimate a plausible range for the ratio of effective population size ($N_e$) to adult abundance ($N_A$) and to infer variance in lifetime reproductive success ($V_k^{*}$). Then, we synthesize available data and infer $V_k^{*}$ for two other fishes that have $N_e/N_A$ ratios reportedly >0.10, the southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii, Scombridae) and the silver seabream (Chrysophrys auratus, Sparidae). Although commonly regarded as an SRS species, red drum did not meet the SRS criterion. Overdispersed $V_k^{*}$ values were inferred for all three species, with those for red drum and silver seabream being dependent upon population-closure assumptions. Results are presented within the conceptual framework of reproductive resilience, considering the roles of random extrinsic forces versus evolved traits to achieve lifetime reproductive success and population stability in high and variable mortality environments.