Sea-run migratory behaviour in the Japan Sea form of three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus in the tidal pool of eastern Hokkaido Island, Japan

J Fish Biol. 2009 Dec;75(10):2845-50. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2009.02472.x.

Abstract

Juveniles in the Japan Sea form of three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus collected from a tidal pool in eastern Hokkaido Island, Japan, had a unimodal standard length (L(S)) frequency distribution in each period, ranging from 11.9 to 31.6 mm, and those of sea-run migrating individuals collected from the outlet of this tidal pool ranged from 17.0 to 36.0 mm, suggesting juveniles of this form would migrate towards the sea when they reached >17.0 mm. In general linear models (GLM) for testing the best model, there was a relationship between the number of sea-run migratory individual and precipitation, which suggests that precipitation may trigger migration.

MeSH terms

  • Animal Migration*
  • Animals
  • Body Size
  • Japan
  • Linear Models
  • Smegmamorpha / physiology*