What made fishes to invade land

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K14790
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Aquatic bioproduction science
• Research Institution: Nagasaki University
• Principal Investigator: ISHIMATSU Atsushi 長崎大学, 海洋未来イノベーション機構, 教授 (00184565)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 生態・行動 / マッドスキッパー / 進化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Five species of mudskippers inhabit a mudflat in Soc Trang Province, Vietnam. Boleophthalmusboddarti and Periophthalmus chrysospilos spent 90% of the observation period on the mudflat surface. In contrast, Scartelaos histophorus spent 16% and Oxuderces nexipinnis spent only 1% of their time out of water. Periophthalmodon schlosseri was relatively rare and therefore we were unable to obtain reliable data for the species. Gut content analysis revealed that Pn. schlosseri and Ps. chrysospilos were carnivorous, B. boddarti and O. nexipinnis were herbivorous, and S. histophorus was omnivorous. Micro CT scanning demonstrated differences in skeletal morphology between the five species. Unexpectedly, we have found that Periophthalmodon septemradiatus inhabited freshwater regions of the Mekong River, up to 150 km upstream from the coast.

Free Research Field

環境生理学