Spatial variation in the relationship between growth and maturation rate in male Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus off the Pacific coast of northern Japan
Yoneda, M.; Kurita, Y.; Kitagawa, D.; Ito, M. (2007). Spatial variation in the relationship between growth and maturation rate in male Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus off the Pacific coast of northern Japan. J. Sea Res. 57(2-3): 171-179. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2006.08.009 In: Journal of Sea Research. Elsevier/Netherlands Institute for Sea Research: Amsterdam; Den Burg. ISSN 1385-1101; e-ISSN 1873-1414, more Also appears in:Yamashita, Y.; Nash, R.D.M.; van der Veer, H.W. (Ed.) (2007). Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium on Flatfish Ecology, Part 1, held at Maizuru, Kyoto, Japan from 20-25 October 2005. Journal of Sea Research, 57(Spec. Issue 2-3). Elsevier: Amsterdam. IV, 89-235 pp., more |  |
| Keywords | Aquatic organisms > Marine organisms > Fish > Marine fish
Body size
Population dynamics
Population functions > Growth
Properties > Biological properties > Sexual maturity
Sex > Males
Paralichthys olivaceus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846) [WoRMS]
INE, North Pacific coast; INW, Japan, Honshu, Fukushima Prefect.; INW, Japan, Honshu, Miyagi Prefect.
Marine/Coastal | | Author keywords | flounder; growth; male; maturation; population dynamics; pacific coast |
| Authors | | Top | - Yoneda, M.
- Kurita, Y.
- Kitagawa, D.
- Ito, M.
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| Abstract | We examined the relationship between body size and maturation in male Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus, and whether spatial variation in the occurrence of mature fish between southern (Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, 38° N) and northern (Aomori Prefecture, 41° N) waters could be explained by variation in growth rates and somatic body condition. Male flounder in southern and northern waters matured sexually at two years of age; however, the probability of 2-y-old males being mature differed between the two waters. In southern waters, almost all 2-y-old males had mature testes during the spawning season (May-September), whereas the majority of 2-y-old males in northern waters remained immature during the same period. Males in southern waters had grown faster than those in northern waters by summer, two years after birth, but the length range of males in the two regions largely overlapped during the spawning season. The somatic condition of 2-y-old males in June was significantly higher in southern waters than in northern waters, but there was no significant difference in condition between immature and mature specimens in each region. The length-growth increments of 2-y-old males in southern waters during the growing season, just after the spawning season, were similar to those in northern waters. These discrepancies in fish between northern and southern waters did not appear to be explained by the theory of growth and energy allocation strategies. Our findings show that life-history traits of male Japanese flounder may vary on a small geographical scale off the Pacific coast of northern Japan. |
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