Ecological studies of Cobitid Fish, Cobitis koreensis in Jeonju-cheon Creek, Jeonrabug-do province, Korea

전주천 참종개 Cobitis Koreensis 의 생태

The study was made to expand the knowledge of the ecology of Cobitis koreensis which is very common in the upper and middle part of rivers in western part of Korea. A number of C. koreensis are found in the creek of Jeonju-cheon located at Segjang-ri, Wanju-gun, Jeonrabug-do Province. The area studied has pebble bottoms. The flow velocity of the river ranges from 20cm to 40cm per second under normal conditions. The sex ratio of male to female was 1:1.34 and the female was 10~25mm larger than the male in total length. Length-frequencies in this population indicate that 20~40 mm fish group is underyearling, 40~60mm is a yearling, and 60~85mm is two-year-old. And the fish longer than 90mm in total length is regarded as being over three-year-old. Based on the ratio of gonadal weight to body weight, spawning in this species began in April and expanded well into June with water temperature 20~26。C, and the individuals became sexually mature over the two-year-old. The number of the eggs was counted from ten matured female fishes. The mean number of eggs in seven 72.6~81.4mm fishes was 908 (595-1, 229) and that of the rest three 86.0~89.0mm was 1, 674 (1, 337-2, 023). The contents of stomach in the other fifteen specimens captured in September 1977 were investigated. While the younger fed almost on the algae, the foods in the adult were largely aquatic insects.