Reproductive System Development And Reproduction Behavior In Odontobutis Potamophila (Günther)

1. Annual cyclic variations in reproductive system and biochemical constituents of Odontobutis potamophila (Günther)Experiments were conducted to investigate the gonad development cycle of the 0-yeared female fish, Odontobutis potamophila (Günther), and the difference of sex maturation of the man-cultured and wild fish in the Zhejiang Fresh Water Aquaculture Research Center during the period of the Aug, 2004 to May, 2005. The results from the serums hormone and the ovary histology showed that the cultured fish could complete successfully the whole reproductive cycle including the ovary promotion, nutrition accumulation, and retrogression, and the peak of the production was between the March and April in spring when the ovary was in phase V, which was identical with the wild fish. However, the gonad index, absolute fecundity, relative fecundity and egg diameter of cultured fish were significantly lower that those of the wild fish (P<0.05), which suggested that the maturation rate of the man-cultured fish could not reach the level of the wild fish yet. Further studies were conducted with the gonad index, condition factor, and ovary fatty acids profile of the female fish, and the results suggested that the nutrition deficiency in winter might be the cause for the low egg quality of the fish, and the significant important role of Polyunsaturated fatty acids was observed for the ovary development of the fish, Odontobutis potamophila (Günther).2. Annual changes in histological structure of male reproductive system of Odontobutis potamophila (Günther)Experiments were conducted to investigate the testis structure, sperm morphology, and the testis developmental cycle of the male fish, Odontobutis potamophila (Günther), by microtome and electron microscopy. The results showed...