Life History of the Riverine Cyprinid Henicorhynchus Siamensis (Sauvage, 1881) in a Small Reservoir by A
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Journal of Applied Ichthyology J. Appl. Ichthyol. (2010), 1–6 Received: December 20, 2009 Ó 2010 Blackwell Verlag, Berlin Accepted: August 17, 2010 ISSN 0175–8659 doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0426.2010.01619.x Life history of the riverine cyprinid Henicorhynchus siamensis (Sauvage, 1881) in a small reservoir By A. Suvarnaraksha1,2,3, S. Lek2, S. Lek-Ang2 and T. Jutagate1 1Faculty of Agriculture, Ubon Ratchathnai University, Warin Chamrab, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand; 2University of Toulouse III, Laboratoire Dynamique de la Biodiversite´, CNRS – UPS, Toulouse Cedex, France; 3Faculty of Fisheries Technology and Aquatic Resources, Maejo University, Sansai, Chiangmai, Thailand Summary candidates for a fish stock enhancement program to increase The riverine species, Henicorhynchus siamensis (Sauvage 1881), fish production in inland water bodies in the region (Jutagate, is an important source of protein and an economical fish for 2009). the rural population of inland Indochina. Investigated in the Knowledge of the life cycles of many important Southeast present study were the reproductive feeding aspects and Asia freshwater fish species is still very fragmentary, especially growth of H. siamensis living in a lake system. The gonado- when they inhabit an uncommon environment (Volbo-Jørgen- somatic index peaked in August, which was delayed compared sen and Poulsen, 2000). Given the importance of H. siamensis to river fish, and individuals took 1.5 years to attain the length to fisheries in many parts of major Southeast Asian rivers, this of 50% maturity (about 200 mm). Stomach contents were study aimed to investigate the key facets of the H. siamensis dominated by phytoplankton and showed considerable sea- life history (Froese et al., 2000), i.e. reproduction, feeding and sonal variation. Asymptotic length of H. siamensis was growth. A goal was to see whether this small cyprinid could 264.2 mm, with a 0.75 year)1 growth coefficient and slower flourish and support a small-scale artisanal fishery in a growth during the winter. The role of the flood pulse as a reservoir and to evaluate its potential as a source of protein major influence on the life history of the fish is also discussed. and micronutrients as well as income for the local people in the vicinity of the reservoir. Introduction Materials and methods Fish of the genus Henicorhynchus are small migratory cyprinids and one of the most important groups in the Lower Description of study area Mekong Basin and Chaophraya River basin fisheries, The Mae-ngad Dam is located in Chiangmai Province, especially the Siamese mud carp Henicorhynchus siamensis Northern Thailand (19°15.18N, 099°03.35E to 19°15.25N, (Sauvage, 1881). This fish is a common catch whereby in the 099°17.43E). It was dammed across a first order stream, the basin area four sub-populations were recently identified Mae-ngad, for multiple purposes such as hydroelectric power (Adamson et al., 2009). H. siamensis is also the main fish and irrigation. Its elevation ranges from 412 to 425 m ASL catch produced by the commercial bag-net fisheries in Tonle with a catchment area of 1309 km2 and a water surface of Sap, Cambodia, where it constitutes more than 60% of the 16 km2. The mean water depth of the reservoir area is 30 m catch and accounts for almost 10% of the total value with a mixed clay and silt bottom. It is also noteworthy to generated (Deap et al., 1998). Moreover, H. siamensis is mention that the H. siamensis in this study originated in the ranked as the top species commonly consumed by Cambodi- wild, since there has been no stocking of H. siamensis in this ans. These advantages play a crucial role as the most reservoir. important animal food for the poor (Kent, 1997) and also fulfill a role as a dietary source of vitamins and minerals (Roos et al., 2007). The importance of this fish is also acknowledged Fish sampling and on-site measurements in the Cambodian currency, the ÔrielÕ, which is named after the Data was obtained from twelve fishermen using gill nets as Cambodian common name for H. siamensis of Ôtrey rielÕ fishing gear in the lake. The gill net assemblies were composed (Volbo-Jørgensen and Poulsen, 2000). of five 30-m2 nets (10 m long · 3 m deep) with stretched mesh H. siamensis is known as an r-strategist with a medium to sizes of 10–30 mm. The nets were surface-set at twelve sites, high resilience, whereby the minimum population doubling which were equally distributed over the coastal area of the time is between 1.4 and 4.4 years (Froese and Pauly, 2009). reservoir, and using one gill net assembly per sampling site. All H. siamensis is also well known for its migratory habit of nets were set overnight between 16.00 and 18.00 hours and lateral migration into the floodplains during the flood season lifted between 06.00 and 08.00 hours. At least 120 H. siamensis and then returning to the rivers when the flood waters begin to were randomly sampled monthly from July 2003 to June 2004 recede (Rainboth, 1996). But it is also known not to prosper in (1364 fish in total). Individuals were measured for total length impoundments (Lamberts, 2001; Chheng et al., 2004), as its (L, to the nearest 1 mm) and weighed (W, to the nearest 0.1 g). life cycle depends on the river ⁄ flood regime. However, Data were used to establish the length–weight relationship H. siamensis can successfully inhabit man-made lakes in W = aLb, where a and b are specific constant values. The size of Thailand as well as in the Lao PDR, and is among the each individual was classified for length frequency distribution 2 A. Suvarnaraksha et al. (LFD) and the distributions determined at 1.0 cm length Analyses were carried out using the ELEFAN routine in intervals. After measurement, the specimens were preserved in FiSAT-II software (Gayanilo et al., 2002), which can be 10% formalin and taken to the laboratory for detailed analysis. applied to both fish and shellfish (Nurul Amin et al., 2008). The steps to be analyzed by reconstructing the LFD from the initial estimates of L¥ and K have already been described Reproductive aspects (Amarasinghe and De Silva, 1992). Theoretical age at length Twenty-five mature gonads (i.e. 10 testes and 15 ovaries) per zero (t0) was derived from the equation proposed by Pauly month were used for histological studies. They were fixed in (1979): 10% formalin ⁄ acetic acid ⁄ calcium chloride (FAACC) for log ðÞ¼ÀÀt 0:392 À 0:275 log L À 1:038 log K ð5Þ 1 month before being embedded in paraffin and stained with 10 0 10 1 10 haematoxylin-eosin. The samples were then cut into sections Two more parameters were incorporated into the VBGF, (7 lm) and observed under a light microscope. Ovary when seasonality was taken into account: C, which is between (n = 553) maturity was graded into five stages, I–V (Bagenal 0 and 1 indicates the magnitude of the seasonal growth and Braum, 1978), where fish showing stage III and higher pattern; and ts, the time from birth to the start of growth were considered to be mature. The gonads of the specimens oscillations, which can be calculated as: were weighed (GW, to the nearest 0.1 g) to calculate the Gonadosomatic index: GSI = 100 · GW ⁄ W. Eggs were ts ¼ WP À 0:5 ð6Þ counted gravimetrically (Bagenal and Braum, 1978). For each sex, ten fish per length class were collected during the peak GSI whereWP is the time of the year during which the growth rate period to investigate the mature fish percentages, P, at each is minimal, i.e. winter point (Gayanilo et al., 2002). The best- length interval (Chen and Paloheimo, 1994). fitted growth curve was chosen on the basis of non-parametric scoring from the goodness of fit index (i.e. Rn value). 1 P ¼ ð1Þ 1 þ eðÞaÀbL Results where a and b are constants and when calculated, the percentage at 50% maturity was replaced in the equation (1) Length–weight relationship to obtain the length at 50% maturity. Ranging from 140–290 mm, 1364 samples were used in the analysis. The relationships were derived from unsexed samples since there is no external sexual dimorphism and no clear-cut Stomach contents sex differentiation between females and males. The equation Stomachs were examined individually, dissected, opened lon- derived was W = 0.01L3.08 (r = 0.82) and the exponential gitudinally, and the digestive tracts fixed in 10% formalin. The value of 3.08 indicated that the growth of H. siamensis was stomach contents were squeezed out and diluted to 1 ml. The isometric, i.e. the weight increased proportionally with length suspended matter was then placed in a Sedgewick rafter (Froese, 2006). counting cell and examined under light microscopy. Food items were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic unit. For diet analyses the percentage of frequency of occurrence Reproductive aspects (O%), number (N%) and index of relative importance (IRI%) The histology of the gonads (Fig. 1) confirmed that H. sia- (Hyslop, 1980) were calculated for each dietary item (i) and mensis has a synchronous ovary (i.e. single spawned). The used in dietary comparisons. temporal changes in the gonadosomatic index (GSI) clearly showed a single peak in both sexes, which tended to increase in IRI ¼ N%  O% ð2Þ i June, was highest in August (i.e. 18.60 ± 0.81 and and 3.15 ± 9.74) for females and males, respectively, then IRI regressed from September (Fig. 2). IRI% ¼ P i  100 ð3Þ The logistic curve, which describes the maturity size, is n IRI i¼1 i shown in Fig.