Reproductive biology and morphology of eggs and larvae of Stiphodon percnopterygionus (Gobiidae: Sicydiinae) collected from Okinawa Island

Abstract

Reproductive biology and morphology of eggs and early larvae of the sicydiine goby Stiphodon percnopterygionus were investigated on Okinawa Island, southern Japan. Spawning season was estimated as being from May to December. Standard length at maturity was approximately 20 mm in both sexes, and batch fecundity was approximately 1000-10 000 per female. The egg masses, guarded by the male, were laid on the undersurface of stones in freshwater. The pyriform eggs had long-and short-axis diameters of 0.54-0.58 mm and 0.49-0.50 mm, respectively. Newly hatched larvae (1.20-1.32 mm notochord length: NL) were poorly developed, with large yolk sacs and unopened mouths. Three days after hatching (1.87-2.05 mm NL), eyes were fully pigmented and mouths were opened.

Diel and Seasonal Occurrence Patterns of Drifting Fish Larvae in the Teima Stream, Okinawa Island

“…All small undeveloped type larvae were at an almost uniform newly hatched stage. Their 1-day-old larvae are larger (1.5-1.8 mm NL) and show features distinguishing them from newly hatched larvae (Yamasaki and Tachihara 2006, 2007, Maeda et al 2008), but we did not find these older larvae. Thus, all larvae we observed probably passed through the sampling site within hours of hatching.…”

“…They most likely comprised Eleotris acanthopoma, Eleotris fusca, Sicyopterus japonicus, Stiphodon percnopterygionus, Stenogobius sp., and Awaous melanocephalus, because only these fishes among those found in the upper reaches of the sampling site are known to hatch in such undeveloped stages (Dô tu and Mito 1955, Yamasaki and Tachihara 2006, 2007, Maeda et al 2008our unpubl. data).…”

Reproductive Biology and Early Development of Two Species of Sleeper, Eleotris acanthopoma and Eleotris fusca (Teleostei: Eleotridae)1

“…In addition, the mean diameter of ripe oocytes in E. aquadulcis has been reported as being 0.27 mm (Allen and Coates 1990), suggesting that that species may also spawn similarly small eggs. Several other eleotrid fishes (Hypseleotris spp., Ophieleotris aporos, and Dormitator latifrons) and sicydiine gobies and their relatives (Sicyopterus spp., Sicydium punctatum, Stiphodon percnopterygionus, Lentipes concolor, Awaous spp., and Stenogobius hawaiiensis) have been reported to exhibit a similar trend toward small eggs and larvae (Manacop 1953, Dô tu and Mito 1955, Lake 1967, Anderson et al 1971, Todd 1975, Maciolek 1977, Auty 1978, Coates 1992, Kinzie 1993, Bell and Brown 1995, Ha and Kinzie 1996, Dotsu et al 1998, Lindstrom 1999, Yamasaki and Tachihara 2006. These fishes are also highly fecund, which has been demonstrated to be inversely related to egg size (Miller 1984 The reproductive strategy of E. acanthopoma and E. fusca is characterized by high fecundity, small eggs, and small newly hatched larvae; these characteristics are shared with several of the eleotrid fishes and sicydiine gobies mentioned previously.…”

“…The reproductive biology of some sicydiine gobies, typical amphidromous fishes, has been studied intensively; they spawn very small eggs and are highly fecund (Manacop 1953, Dô tu and Mito 1955, Kinzie 1993, Ha and Kinzie 1996, Yamasaki and Tachihara 2006. Although the genus Eleotris is not closely related to the Sicydiinae (Gobiidae), several Eleotris species are also widely distributed among tropical and subtropical insular streams and, together with the sicydiine gobies, have colonized isolated oceanic islands such as Hawai'i (Yamamoto and Tagawa 2000) and French Polynesia (Marquet and Galzin 1992).…”

Eggs and larvae of Awaous melanocephalus (Teleostei: Gobiidae)

“…Seven sicydiine goby species, two Awaous species, one Stenogobius species, and fi ve eleotrid fi sh species occur in the freshwater stream environments of Okinawa Island (Iwata, 1989;Senou et al, 2004;Maeda and Tachihara, 2006). Of these, the newly hatched larval morphology of three species, i.e., Hypseleotris cyprinoides, Sicyopterus japonicus, and Stiphodon percnopterygionus, have been described to date (Dotsu and Mito, 1955;Yanagi, 1977;Yamasaki and Tachihara, 2006), and information for three additional species, Eleotris acanthopoma, E. fusca, and Stenogobius sp., has been collected by us (unpublished data). Future research will be directed at the collection and description of additional larval data, which would facilitate the identifi cation of wild-caught larvae in the fi eld.…”