East Asian mud whip

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East Asian mud whip
Misgurnus anguillicaudatus.jpg

East Asian mud whip ( Misgurnus anguillicaudatus )

Systematics
without rank: Otophysa
Order : Carp-like (Cypriniformes)
Subordination : Loach- like (Cobitoidei)
Family : Wolffish (Cobitidae)
Genre : Mud Lashers ( Misgurnus )
Type : East Asian mud whip
Scientific name
Misgurnus anguillicaudatus
( Cantor , 1842)

The East Asian mud whip ( Misgurnus anguillicaudatus ) is a species of fish from the loach family (Cobitidae). The natural range of the species is in Northeast Asia, where it occurs in China and Northeast Myanmar , as well as on Taiwan and the islands of Japan . The species is fished and grown in aquaculture . It is also a popular aquarium and bait fish and has been settled by humans in various regions, where, due to their adaptability as food competitors and possible pathogens, they are sometimes considered a threat to native fish species.

features

East Asian mud whippers have an approximately cylindrical, eel-like body with a slightly sloping head with a blunt snout and a laterally flattened tail end. The total length is up to 28 centimeters. They are yellowish-brown to brown on top with greenish-gray-brown to dark brown marbling , which can also be found on the dorsal and anal fin. The belly is pale yellow to pale silver. The body is covered by very small, mucus- covered cycloid scales, 140 to 170 of which lie along the body axis. The head is free of flakes. The mouth is underneath, small and arched with thick, fleshy lips. It is surrounded by six barbels , four of which are on the upper jaw, two on the lower jaw near the corners of the mouth and two on the chin. The small eyes are high on the head. The lateral line organ is short and only extends to the pectoral fins . These carry a powerful hard beam. The dorsal fin begins about halfway between the pectoral fins and the caudal fin and has three hard and six or seven soft rays. The pelvic fins start just behind the base of the dorsal fin and have a hard ray and five or six soft rays. The anal fin has seven or eight soft rays. The caudal fin ends rounded and has fat bulges on its stalk above and below.

The males have slightly larger pectoral fins, while the belly is stronger in the females.

Way of life

East Asian mud whiskers colonize all types of slowly flowing or stagnant water, preferably with shallow water and muddy or plant debris rich ground in which to bury themselves. They can be found in rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, but also in swamps and rice fields. Due to the ability to take in air and breathe through an auxiliary organ in the bowels, they can also survive in very oxygen-poor waters. They are active at temperatures of 2 to 30 ° C and can survive unfavorable conditions such as drought or cold for several months buried in the mud.

The animals are mainly active at night, but also during the day before storms, which is why they are sometimes referred to as "weather fish". Soil-living invertebrates serve as food, but also plant debris and algae.

Reproduction

East Asian mud lashers breed several times a year from mid-April to early October. The 1,800 to 15,500 eggs are red and sticky. Males reach reproductive maturity at around one and females at one or two years of age.

In addition to normal sexual reproduction, some females can also produce non-reduced , diploid eggs which, without fertilization, develop into normal diploid animals (with 2n = 50) or after fertilization by a sperm into triploid animals. There are also tetraploid animals. Different populations with different reproductive strategies could exist within the species.

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kagayaki Morishima, Shin Horie, Etsuro Yamaha, Katsutoshi Arai: A Cryptic Clonal Line of the Loach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (Teleostei: Cobitidae) Evidenced by Induced Gynogenesis, Interspecific Hybridization, Microsatellite Genotyping and Multilocus DNA Fingerprinting . In: Zoological Science Zoological Society of Japan . tape 19 , 2002, pp. 565–575 (English, full text [PDF; 995 kB ]).

Web links

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