• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.183-190
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• 2012

The spawning site characters in the natural environment of bull-head torrent catfish, Liobagrus obesus, were investigated at the part of the Gosan stream in Korea from April to October 2010 and June 2011. The sex ratio of female to male was 1 : 1.02. Spawning season was from June to July with water temperature in approximately $23^{\circ}C$. The spawning sites were covered by the boulder used upper plate and were composed of gravel and sand. One male lies with the egg mass and guards the developing embryos in the hollow below the boulder. The environmental conditions of the spawning sites were $61.4{\pm}11.97$ (50~85) cm in depth, 0.58${\pm}0.067$ (0.48~0.72) m/sec in surface water velocity, $0.46{\pm}0.098$ (0.27~0.61) m/sec in middle water velocity, $0.27{\pm}0.083$ (0.14~0.41) m/sec in bottom water velocity. The boulder width as spawning sites was $26.2{\pm}5.32$ (20~38) cm in long axis, $20.5{\pm}2.97$ (16~25) cm in short axis and $11.1{\pm}4.02$ (5~19) cm in height. The hollow underneath the boulder was $9.8{\pm}2.32$ (6~14) cm in diameter and $2.8{\pm}1.10$ (1.5~5) cm in depth. The average number of eggs in ovary was $124{\pm}27.7$ (92~180). The matured egg size was $3.40{\pm}0.078$ (3.21~3.56) mm. The average number of spawning eggs in the spawning site was $99{\pm}12.9$ (81~122).