In this study, an experiment was conducted to investigate the annual reproductive cycle of a Korean flat bittering, Acheilognathus rhombeus, from Ogok-myeon located in Seomjin River. The reproductive cycle was examined histologically regarding water temperature and day length of the habitat, the gonadosomatic index (GSI), and developmental characteristics of female and male gonads. The maximum GSI was found to be 3.50±0.53 and 1.36±0.14 for females and males, respectively, when the water temperature and day light was 16.9°C and 11.3 hours, respectively in October 2018. On the other hand, the minimum GSI was found to be 0.16±0.09 and 0.69±0.15 for males and females in December 2018 and February 2019, respectively. The ovipositor of females appeared from August to November 2018. We compared and calculated the stages of germ cell developmental characteristics in the testis and ovaries to determine the reproductive cycle. According to the result, we classified the female A. rhombeus reproductive cycle into four phases, which are ripe and spawning phase (October), degenerative phase (November to December), growing phase (January to March) and mature phase (April to September). The annual reproductive cycle of male A. rhombeus was categorized into four phases: mature phase (June to October), degenerative phase (November to March), resting phase (April) and growing phase (May). The Korean flat bittering is an autumn-spawner as the main spawning season in October. In male, testicular spermatogonia appeared all year-round, and the ripe and releasing phase, which is characteristics of the spawning season in other fish, did not appear.
Keywords: Acheilognathus rhombeus; Gonadosomatic index (GSI); Reproductive cycle; Spawning.
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