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Annual and daily activity rhythms of loathes in an irrigation creek and ditches around paddy fields

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Synopsis

This study deals with the daily activity rhythm and its change in a loath,Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, by season and age. We set traps in an irrigation creek and ditches around the paddy fields near Nara city every month for 2 years. The fish appeared in spring, declined in early summer, and increased in mid-summer again, and disappeared in late autumn. The number of fish captured at night was greater than that during the daytime in summer. There were some differences in the daily rhythms by sex and age. Nocturnal activities of males and immatures were more prominent than those of females. Younger generation were more nocturnally active than elders in summer. Changes in the daily activity rhythms of the loath are possibly adaptive to unstable environments around paddy fields.

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Naruse, M., Oishi, T. Annual and daily activity rhythms of loathes in an irrigation creek and ditches around paddy fields. Environ Biol Fish 47, 93–99 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002382

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002382

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