Diet and feeding habit of Smilosicyopus leprurus （Actinopterygii: Gobiidae）

• Main Authors: Ying-tzu Lu, 盧盈慈
• Other Authors: Te-Yu Liao
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/05399025009420352245

碩士 === 國立中山大學 === 海洋科學系研究所 === 103 === Fin-eating is a unique feeding behavior in fish and there is no study shows that any fin-eaters present in the Gobiidae to date. Smilosicyopus leprurus was observed to tear off other fishes'' fin and swallowed when kept in aquarium. Smilosicyopus leprurus inhabit in upstream and distribute in Hengchun Peninsula、the east and the northeast in Taiwan. The aim of this study is to investigate whether this feeding behavior occurs in the field and whether this species can be considered a fin-eater. Fourteen individuals S. leprurus are captured from streams in Pintung, Taiwan. Food habits of S. leprurus are examined by stereomicroscope and cloning of stomach contents. A fin clip was found in one of the 14 stomach contents. According to the blast of COI sequence, fin clip belongs to the fish genus Sicyopterus. The analysis of stomach contents of S. leprurus revealed that the food of the fish consists of aquatic insects (90%), fin clip (5%) and fish scales (5%). Smilosicyopus leprurus have fin-eating behavior in the wild. Even though S. leprurus doesn’t feed on fins exclusively, this species is cosnsidered a fin-eater. The phylogenetic tree is reconstructed by neighbor-joining with cytochrome b and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene in twenty-nine species of nine genera in Sicydiinae. The phlogenetic tree shows that S. lepruru in Taiwan and S. leprurus collected from the Okinawa Island are same species. The complete mitochrondrial genome of S. leprurus are sequenced for future research on the phylogeny and evolution of Gobiidae.