Abstract
The Japan sea form of the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, was found to spawn in the seawater tidal pool of the Cape Benkei, western Hokkaido Island, Japan, in 2001 and 2003. Nest-guarding males, adult females and juveniles of this form were also observed in four tidal pools of the Capes Benkei, Kabuto and Kamui, in 2001–2003. Otolith Sr:Ca ratios in sticklebacks collected from these tidal pools were relative high from the core to the edge, suggesting they lived in seawater environments throughout its life cycle. These findings suggest that a part of the Japan Sea formȁ9s individuals in western Hokkaido Island have the potential to breed in the coastal sea and the life history style has evolved in dependence on the seawater environment.
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Acknowledgements
We thank S. Mori and H. Takahashi for their valuable suggestions and Y. Suzuki for his assistance in sampling. We are also grateful to two anonymous reviewers for critical comments and valuable corrections on this manuscript.
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Kume, M., Kuwahara, T., Arai, T. et al. A part of the Japan Sea form of the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, spawns in the seawater tidal pools of western Hokkaido Island, Japan. Environ Biol Fish 77, 169–175 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-006-9068-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-006-9068-6