| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,900,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
|
|---|
| Research Abstract |
Larvae of two gobiids, Acanthogobius flavimanus and A. lactipes, distributed and abundant in the inner part of Tokyo Bay, are difficult to be identified by their morphological characters ; however, they are distinguished each other by their occurrence seasons, the former occurring in Spring and the latter in Summer. Therefore, in this study, larvae of both the species were tried to be identified by the genetic characters.
Adult fish and larvae/juveniles were collected from the inner part of Tokyo Bay. The adults were identified by their morphological characters. Furthermore, their cytochrome b gene of mitochondrial DNA, amplified by using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), was analyzed by RFLP method, and the nucleotide sequences were obtained.
The larvae were, on the other hand, divided into two types, Type A occurred in Spring and Type B in Summer, and the same genetic analyses were done as in the adults. Consequently, 99.9% of nucleotide sequences of these larvae were matched with those of A. flavimanus and A. lactipes, respectively; therefore, Type A and B larvae were identified to be the respective species. Detailed study on morphology, especially melanophore distribution of these larvae, revealed that the distribution patterns of melanophores on the isthmus and lateral part of body were different between these two species.
The methods performed in this study such as larval collection, larval identification by genetic characters and detailed morphological studies of larvae can be applied widely to the field of larval taxonomy.
|
