Spawning habitat and early development of Luciogobius ryukyuensis (Gobiidae)

Reproduction, larviculture and early development of the Bluebanded goby,Lythrypnus dalli,an emerging model organism for studies in evolutionary developmental biology and sexual plasticity

“…Studying development within a phylogenetic context identifies interesting developmental and evolutionary novelties and the appropriate organisms in which to study them. Our work is the first description of development of a member of the genus Lythrypnus, and strengthens the phylogenetic context for ontogenetic characters within gobiid species (Sunobe & Nakazono 1987 Kondo et al 2012). In addition, our ability to show comparable expression of hoxa13a during the formation of the gut and trunk in D. rerio and L. dalli using in situ hybridization suggests that L. dalli is also tractable for studies of gene expression.…”

“…Juvenile L. dalli began to settle out of the water column starting around 40 dph and concurrent with the onset of adult colouration, after the development of the pelvic fin sucking disc (Fig. ), as has been described for other Gobiidae with pelagic larvae (Yokoi & Hosoya ; Kondo, Maeda, Yamasaki & Tachihara ). There was considerable divergence in settlement time with some larvae taking 90–100 days to settle.…”

“…; Kondo et al . ). In addition, our ability to show comparable expression of hoxa13a during the formation of the gut and trunk in D. rerio and L. dalli using in situ hybridization suggests that L. dalli is also tractable for studies of gene expression.…”

“…Scale bar is 0.50 mm and all photos are to scale. (Yokoi & Hosoya 2006;Kondo, Maeda, Yamasaki & Tachihara 2012). There was considerable divergence in settlement time with some larvae taking 90-100 days to settle.…”

Comparative larval development of three amphidromous Rhinogobius species, making reference to their habitat preferences and migration biology

“…Indeed, abundant newly hatched drifting Rhinogobius larvae are collected in plankton nets set along the course of the stream on Okinawa Island, and these larvae occur predominantly during the hours after dusk (Maeda and Tachihara 2010;Yamasaki et al 2011). Although adults of several amphidromous fish species, such as ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis), common whitebait (Galaxias maculatus), river sculpin (Cottus hangiongensis) and the gobies (Awaous guamensis and Luciogobius ryukyuensis), migrate downstream along the courses of rivers or streams to spawn (Benzie 1968;Goto 1986Goto , 1988Ha and Kinzie 1996;Iguchi et al 1998;Kondo et al 2012), such pre-spawning migrations are not known to occur in the three Rhinogobius species studied here. In addition to our unpublished observations that the egg masses of the three species are commonly found in their usual adult habitats, the fact that the spawned egg mass of R. brunneus was found in the upper reaches of Genka Stream suggests that Rhinogobius species spawn in their usual adult habitats without undergoing pre-spawning migrations.…”