Setipinna

Abstract: In this paper the biological characteristics including catch compositions of fork length, standard weight and age, and growth, spawning time, fecundity and feeding habit of Sardinella zunasi, Clupanodon punctatus, Engraulis japonicus, Thrissa kammalensis and Setipinna gilberti were reported based on the data collected from the investigation in Laizhou Bay. The importance of these fishes in regional fisheries and interspecific replacement were also discussed. The author provided some suggestions for fishery resource conservation and management at the end of the paper.

Abstract: Setipinna taty,is a commercially important fish distributed from the northern East China Sea to the Bohai Sea,and plays an important role in the marine ecosystems.In recent years,the catches were mainly composed of juveniles,and characterized by lower age population structure.In the present paper,the diet composition and ontogenetic variation in the feeding habits of Setipinna taty at fork length(FL) of 35-79 mm were examined by applying the Kruskal-Wallis test,a chi-squared test and the cluster analysis,according to the total of 207 samples from seasonal bottom trawl surveys in the central part of Yellow Sea in August 2008.Based on stomach contents analysis,the Setipinna taty was a generalist and more than 40 prey species were ingested.Crustaceans,including copepodas and euphausiaceas,were the most important prey groups,accounting for 94.65% of the total food by numerical percentage.At the species level,Paracalanus parvus,Calanus sinicus,Labidocera euchaeta and Euphausia pacifica were the most important prey.The relative importance of polychaetas,gastropodas and bivalvias was comparatively low.The feeding intensity,as indicated by the percentage of empty stomach(PES) and mean stomach fullness index(MSFI),varied significantly among different classes of sizes.The MSFI increased with increasing fish size,but the PES did not present the obvious trend of change.The percentage of euphausiaceas and mysidaceas increased significantly with increasing fish size,whereas the percentage of copepodas decreased.The Levin's standardized indexes of each group are all below 0.6,which indicated that Setipinna taty has narrow dietary breadth.And the Levin's standardized index is less and less with the increasing of fish size,and this shows that the fish's diet becomes more and more especial.So they can make full use of environmental resources and enhance their ability to accommodate the impact of environmental fluctuation.The mean weight of prey,besides,also becomes larger and larger with the increasing of fish size.Cluster analysis revealed that there was an abrupt change in diet composition in the fish at about 45 mm FL.Copepodas dominated the diet of fish smaller than 45 mm FL,whereas euphausiaceas and mysidaceas were the dominant prey for fish greater than 45 mm FL.The result shows that the ontogenetic variation of Setipinna taty is not related with the age,but with the length.

Abstract: The validity of Pseudosetipinna Peng & Zhao and its type and only species, Pseudosetipinna haizhouensis Peng & Zhao, has long been doubtful due to the absence of diagnostic characters other than the lack of pelvic fins. The absence of pelvic fins in specimens of anchovies and sardines is frequently reported and usually considered a developmental malformation. We recently collected specimens of S. tenuifilis (Valenciennes) containing one specimen without pelvic fins, identifiable as P. haizhouensis . Herein, we conducted detailed morphological and genetic analyses to determine the validity of P. haizhouensis . The morphological results confirmed that the absence of pelvic fins allows the distinction between P. haizhouensis and S. tenuifilis . The genetic results showed that the mitochondrial haplotype of P. haizhouensis is shared with S. tenuifilis . Altogether, the evidence suggests that P. haizhouensis and S. tenuifilis belong to the same species. Consequently, Pseudosetipinna is a junior synonym of Setipinna Swainson and P. haizhouensis is a junior synonym of S. tenuifilis .

Abstract: Half-fin anchovy (Setipinna tenuifilis) is one of the most important economic fishes around the world. In the present study, we determined the complete mitochondrial DNA sequence and organization of S. tenuifilis. The entire mitochondrial genome is a circular-molecule of 16,215 bp in length, which encodes 37 genes in all. These genes comprise 13 protein-coding genes (ATP6 and 8, COI–III, Cytb, ND1-6, and 4L), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), and two ribosomal RNA genes (12S and 16S rRNAs), with gene arrangement and content basically identical to those of other species of Engraulidae. The result of phylogenetic analysis strongly supported that S. tenuifilis was first clustered together with Setipinna melanochir and formed a monophyly in the genus Coilia, and then they constituted a sister-group relationship with two genus Engraulis, and Stolephorus. It concluded that the S. tenuifilis should be classified into the genus Setipinna. The present study also revealed the phylogenetic relationship of this ...