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The spawning grounds of the chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) and spotted mackerel (Scomber australasicus) in the East China Sea were estimated based on catch statistics of the Japanese large- and medium-type purse seine fishery from 1992 to 2006. Biometric data were obtained from specimens caught by purse seiners in the East China Sea from 1998 to 2006. Gonadosomatic index (GSI) at 50% sexual maturity of chub mackerel and spotted mackerel females was 2.5 and 2.6, respectively. Using this criterion for GSI, chub mackerel larger than 275 mm and spotted mackerel larger than 310 mm in fork length were considered to be mature. Mature chub mackerel was observed in the area of 15-22degC sea surface temperature (SST), and mature spotted mackerel was observed in the area of 17-25degC SST. The spawning period of chub mackerel ranged from February to June, and that of spotted mackerel ranged from February to May in the East China Sea. The spawning grounds were estimated from the distributions of catch per unit effort (CPUE) of spawners and SST. As a result, the spawning ground of chub mackerel was estimated to be in the central and southern part of the East China Sea and the area west of Kyushu in February, March, and April, and in the central part of the East China Sea, the area west of Kyushu and Tsushima Straight in May, and in Tsushima Straight and western part of the Sea of Japan in June. The spawning ground of spotted mackerel was estimated to be in the central and southern part of the East China Sea and southern coastal area of Kyushu in February, March, and April, and the central and southern part of the East China Sea and the area west of Kyushu in May.

Japanese Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus niphonius is a commercially important species in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea, but there is limited knowledge of its genetic population structure. In order to detect its genetic structure, sequence variation of the first hypervariable segment of the control region was analyzed among eight populations of S. niphonius from the East China Sea and Yellow Sea. A total of 119 polymorphic sites were detected in the 505-bp segment of the control region among 134 individuals of S. niphonius, defining 112 haplotypes. Mean haplotype diversity and nucleotide diversity for the eight populations were 0.9963+-0.0017 and 0.0236+-0.0119, respectively. As expected, analysis of molecular variance detected no significant differences at all hierarchical levels, and most of the conventional population Phisub(ST) statistics were negative, indicating that no significant population genetic structure exists in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea. Moreover, the exact test of differentiation supported the null hypothesis that S. niphonius within the East China Sea and Yellow Sea constitutes a panmictic mtDNA gene pool. Neutrality tests and mismatch distribution revealed that S. niphonius underwent population expansion in the late Pleistocene. Strong dispersal capacity of larvae and adults, long-distance migrations, and ocean currents in the studied area could be the reasons for genetic homogeneity in this species in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea. Insufficient time to accumulate genetic variation might be another explanation for the lack of genetic structure in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea.

The food habits of 67 fish species collected from the mangrove estuary of the Urauchi River, Iriomote Island, southern Japan were investigated using gut content analysis. Ontogenetic changes in food preference were recognized in nine species, including mugilids, gerreids, mullids, gobiids and tetraodontids. In most cases, juveniles of these species fed mostly on small crustaceans (e.g. calanoid and cyclopoid copepods and gammaridean amphipods) or detritus. With their subsequent growth, larger prey items (e.g. crabs and polychaetes) became dominant. A cluster analysis based on dietary overlaps showed that the mangrove fish assemblage comprised eight trophic groups (zooplankton, small benthic crustacean, large benthic crustacean, polychaete, fish, detritus, plant and insect feeders). Of these, large and small benthic crustacean feeders, which consumed mainly crabs and gammaridean amphipods, respectively, were the most abundantly represented in terms of species, whereas polychaete and insect feeders were each represented by only two species.

The catch of red tilefish by the Japanese longline fishery in the East China Sea has steeply declined during the last two decades, and resource management is clearly required. This study presents the size selectivity of hooks for red tilefish as a method to control first capture size, based on the results of longline fishing experiments using 'Tainawa-bari' hooks of several sizes: Japanese nominal sizes JNo.10, JNo.11, JNo.12, JNo.13, JNo.14 and JNo.16. On the assumption of geometrical similarity in the combination of upper jaw length u and hook width g at a given retention probability, a single master curve s(R) = exp (-14.42 + 8.85R)/(1 + exp [-14.42 + 8.85R]) was estimated in terms of relative upper jaw length to hook width, R = u/g, using the SELECT method based on a multinomial distribution. The relative upper jaw length for 50% retention is 1.63, and the selection range is 0.25. Almost all fish over 300 mm in total length were retained by a hook of size JNo.12, but smaller fish with less commercial value were also caught. Moreover, JNo.10 hooks catch fish with total lengths of 250 mm efficiently. This indicates that JNo.10 and JNo.12 hooks that are currently used are too small to optimize yield per recruit and also for resource conservation.

Acoustic surveys were conducted from 2002 to 2006 in the East China Sea off the Japanese coast in order to develop a quantitative classification typology of a pelagic fish community and other co-occurring fishes based on acoustic descriptors. Acoustic data were postprocessed to detect and extract fish aggregations from echograms. Based on the expert visual examination of the echograms, detected schools were divided into three broad fish groups according to their schooling characteristics and ethological properties. Each fish school was described by a set of associated descriptors in order to objectively allocate each echo trace to its fish group. Two methods of supervised classification were employed, the discriminant function analysis (DFA) and the artificial neural network technique (ANN). We evaluated and compared the performance of both methods, which showed encouraging and about equally highly correct classification rates (ANN 87.6%;DFA 85.1%). In both techniques, positional and then morphological parameters were most important in discriminating among fish schools. Fish catch composition from midwater trawling validated the fish group classification through one representative example of each grouping. Both methods provided the essential information required for assessing fish stocks. Similar techniques of fish classification might be applicable to marine ecosystems with high pelagic fish diversity.

The age and growth of chub mackerel Scomber japonicus collected from the East China Sea and the northern waters off Kyushu between June 2000 and June 2001 were determined by observing the otolith surface after dipping it in xylene. The translucent and opaque zones on the otolith surface were identified, and the number of translucent zones was counted. Monthly changes in the frequency of fish with translucent zones on the otolith margin, and in the marginal increments, indicated that the translucent zones were formed between April and June. The seasonal pattern of annulus formation on the otolith became clear by observing the otoliths of fish with known ages, and the otolith formation in wild fish was consistent with that of fish with known ages. The mean gonadosomatic index of male and female fish was high from March to May, and spawning females were observed from mid-March to mid-May. The estimated ages were 1-5 years for males and 1-6 years for females. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters did not significantly differ between male and female. The model was obtained as FLt = 406 x {1 - exp[-0.372 x (t + 1.68)]}.

Information about reproductive season, size at sexual maturity and size-dependent reproductive potentials is important for efficient resource management. Such information is necessary to determine seasonal closures and minimum legal size limits. To conserve resources of coconut crab Birgus latro , which are in danger of extinction due to excessive exploitation, their reproductive season, female size at functional maturity and relationship between female size and reproductive potentials were investigated. The reproductive season started in early June and ended late August, and females with higher reproductive potentials showed a tendency to spawn early in the reproductive season. The prohibition of exploiting the resources during the reproductive season, especially early in the season, would be appropriate for sustainability of high reproductive outputs. Fifty percent of investigated females matured functionally at 24.5-mm thoracic length (TL). However, the size at which all females reached functional maturity was 32.3 mm TL, and there was a wide variation in the size of functional maturity among individuals. We must determine minimum legal size by taking the variation into account to allow all individuals to mate at least once before they are caught, which may prevent serious depression in reproductive rate and genetic diversity.

:  In total, 491 whitespotted bamboo sharks were collected from northern Taiwanese waters from February 2002 to February 2003. The sex ratio of the specimens was 0.65, total length (TL) ranged from 35.3–85 cm, and weight ranged 124–2580 g. The mean size at first maturity was estimated to be 64.9 and 65.6 cm TL for females and males, respectively, based on the relationship between mature percentage and TL. The ovulation season was estimated as March to May based on gonadosomatic index (GSI) variations and captive observation. The monthly changes in GSI of males suggested that the mating season was from December to January. The inconsistency between mating and ovulation seasons suggested that females have sperm storage and delayed fertilization. One or two eggs were deposited every 6 or 7 days on average. Deposition of eggs extended for 2 months, and fecundity was 8 ± 3.8 eggs. Thirteen of 48 eggs deposited in 2003 were hatched and the hatching rate was 0.27. The hatching period was 107 ± 9.3 days with accumulated water temperature ranging from 2372–2835°C.

:  The vertical distribution of jack mackerel Trachurus japonicus larvae was described based on discrete depth sampling using a MTD net system from the surface down to 100 m depth at 13 stations in the southern East China Sea between 27 February and 10 March 2002. Of the 20 782 fish larvae collected, T. japonicus larvae were most abundant, accounting for 37.0% of the total catch. The average abundance of the larvae was 419.0 individuals/10 m2, with the average (± standard deviation [SD]) body length of 2.6 ± 0.3 mm (range 1.8–7.5 mm). The larvae were concentrated in the mixed layer, with peak densities in the 10–30 m layer. The average (±SD) weighted mean depth was 21.5 ± 7.8 m. There was no evidence of either diel or ontogenetic vertical migration for the early larvae of <5 mm. More than 90% of the T. japonicus larvae were collected in the water temperature ranging from 21 to 23°C. Vertical profiles of the larval densities and chlorophyll a coincided with each other, which might reflect the abundance of their main prey organisms, copepod nauplii and copepodites, since copepod production is known to be closely related with the chlorophyll a concentration.

Female Japanese chub mackerel Scomber japonicus of the Tsushima Current subpopulation were collected during the spawning season from March to May 2001. A total of 137 adult females were caught between midnight and daybreak. A considerable number of fish displayed new postovulatory follicles (POF), whereas there was no evidence of germinal vesicle breakdown or hydrated oocytes in any of the fish collected. This suggests a daily spawning synchronicity toward midnight. To estimate the spawning frequency (S), the female reproductive state was classified into four criteria based on the degenerative stage of the POFs and the developmental stage of the oocytes. To stage the POFs according to age and determine the stage duration, ovaries from S. japonicus were induced to spawn in the laboratory and were sampled 0-72 h after ovulation at appropriate intervals. The average S, which is evaluated from four different indices, was 16.9%, corresponding to the average female chub mackerel spawned every 5.9 days (8.5 times) during the 50 days.