On the Rose Bitterling, Rhodeus ocellatus subsp., in the Tatara River, Fukuoka Prefecture and Its Habitats

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  • Kimura Seiro
    Laboratory of Fishery Environmental Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University
  • Matsui Seiichi
    Fisheries Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University
  • Wasada Hirofumi
    Nippon Suisan Kaisha Hiroshima Branch
  • Tachihara Katsunori
    Laboratory of Fishery Environmental Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University

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Other Title
  • 福岡県多々良川のバラタナゴおよびその生息環境
  • 福岡県多々良川のバラタナゴおよびその生活環境
  • フクオカケン タタ ラガワ ノ バラタ

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Abstract

The rose bitterling is a deep-bodied and compressed cyprinid fish, seldom exceeding 6.5 cm in total length, and abundant in warm streams and ponds in lowlands. This fish has been classified into two subspecies, Rhodeus ocellatus ocellatus (Kner) and R. ocellatus smithii (Regan). The former, immigrant from China, reveals a conspicuous white stripe along the anterior margin of ventral fin, while the latter, native in Kinki district and northern Kyushu, does not reveal any of such stripe. Recently, the former is rapidly occupying main waters in plains including the original ranges of the latter. In order to elucidate the actual distribution of this fish in the Tatara River flowing in an eastern suburb of Fukuoka City, Kyushu, the authors collected the specimens of the rose bitterling in 1982 to 1984. Many of the specimens, whether male or female, showed tiny and faint whitish parts on their first ventral ray in mid-summer, but these whitish color faded out in other seasons. Therefore, there are difficulties to decide exactly the subspecific name of these specimens. Other taxonomical characters, such as fin ray counts, number of pored scales and presence of a black spot on dorsal fin, suggested the rose bitterling of the Tatara River has less affinity with R. ocellatus ocellatus than another subspecies. The electrophoretic analysis of their isozymes also came to a similar result. In the Tatara River system, this fish was found most abundantly in the muddy lower reaches of the Sue and Umi River where eutrophication of waters has been advanced and the fish fauna is rather simple. The habitats of the rose bitterling were characterised by the stagnant and brownish turbid waters and moderate growths of aquatic plants.

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