Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 72 (3), 390-400 (2006)

The relationship between spawning ground and physical river environmental conditions of shishamo smelt Spirinchus lanceolatus

HISAYA NII,1,2 KAZUO MURAKAMI,2 TAKAO YONEDA2 AND HIROSHI UEDA1,3

1Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0809, 2Hokkaido Aquaculture Promotion Corporation, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0003, 3Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0809, Japan

This study analyzed the relationship between spawning ground and physical river environmental conditions for shishamo smelt Spirinchus lanceolatus. Shishamo smelt have shown remarkable reductions of resources in recent years. Spawning ground surveys were carried out in eight rivers in the western and eastern sides of Hokkaido, Japan from 1982-2003. The physical environmental conditions observed in areas used for spawning and egg deposition were different in each river. However, when the rivers were integrated, taking into account velocity of bottom flow (less than 0.6 m/sec), the results showed that a variety in water depth and particle size composition on the spawning ground was preferred. These findings are useful in identifying spawning areas for preservation to help support the shishamo smelt in each river.


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