RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN REPRODUCTION ACTIVITIES OF FISHES WITH DRIFTING EGGS AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IN THE CHISHUI RIVER

The Chishui River is the only undammed first-order tributary of the upper Yangtze River Basin. It is an important part of the “National Nature Reserve for Rare and Endemic Fishes of the Upper Yangtze River”, which plays important roles in fish conservation. To determine main environmental factors that affect the breeding activities of fishes with drifting eggs in this river, investigations on fish resources of early life stages were carried out in Chishui Reach from March to July in 2015 and April to August in 2016. A total of 27 species of fish early resources, belonging to 3 orders, 7 families and 22 genera, were collected during the investigation period. Nine of these species Pseudolaubuca engraulis, Squalidus argentatus, Gobiobotia filifer, Botia superciliaris, Parabotia fasciata, Parabotia bimaculata, Leptobotia elongate, Leptobotia taeniops and Lepturichthys fimbriata laid drifting eggs in the running water. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) revealed various breeding environmental requirements for these species. Specially, B. superciliari, P. fasciata, P. bimaculata, L. elongate, L. taeniops and L. fimbriata tended to lay eggs when the water discharge was increasing, while P. engraulis and S. argentatus showed an opposite trend. Additionally, G. filifer preformed differently between 2015 and 2016. In the low flow year, their reproductive activities were positively associated with the water discharge. However, in the high flow year, no significant relation between the reproduction activities and water discharge was observed. These results strengthen our understanding of reproductive behavior of different fish species and provide valuable insights into fish conservation.