The spawning information of teleost fishes in Korean Peninsula and Indo-Pacific from massive fish eggs

Abstract

Finding marine teleost fish eggs are keys to reveal spawning grounds and periods. Despite of these values, it’s rare to use the eggs for studying fish spawning ecology because of their morphology that is very similar among species and changes dramatically during development. To investigate teleost fishes spawning ecology in Korean Peninsula and Indo-Pacific, we collected about two hundred thousand eggs and analyzed those using molecular genetic markers and morphological characters. When analyzing the eggs, we considered the spawning strategies of marine teleost fishes of which most species spawns enormous pelagic eggs at similar spaces and times. Species of the eggs were identified by three ways: 1) morphological characteristics to a few species 2) Sanger sequencing on each single egg 3) metabarcoding based on Next-generation sequencing to the massive and mixed eggs. We also collected occurrence information of eggs analyzed by molecular markers from the western Pacific. The molecular markers were Cytb, 12S, 16S, COI, PCR-RFLP, etc. Total of 261 species from 98 families with 27 orders (including unidentified species) identified based on the molecular markers were found in Korean Peninsula and Indo-Pacific. This spawning information based on the eggs identified as species level would be crucial roles to figure out spawning activity and develop polices for conservation fish resources.nges dramatically during development. To investigate teleost fishes spawning ecology in Korean Peninsula and Indo-Pacific, we collected about two hundred thousand eggs and analyzed those using molecular genetic markers and morphological characters. When analyzing the eggs, we considered the spawning strategies of marine teleost fishes of which most species spawns enormous pelagic eggs at similar spaces and times. Species of the eggs were identified by three ways: 1) morphological characteristics to a few species 2) Sanger sequencing on each single egg 3) metabarcoding based on Next-generation sequencing to the massive and mixed eggs. We also collected occurrence information of eggs analyzed by molecular markers from the western Pacific. The molecular markers were Cytb, 12S, 16S, COI, PCR-RFLP, etc. Total of 261 species from 98 families with 27 orders (including unidentified species) identified based on the molecular markers were found in Korean Peninsula and Indo-Pacific. This spawning information based on the eggs identified as species level would be crucial roles to figure out spawning activity and develop polices for conservation fish resources.