International Journal of Aquatic Biology (2014) 2(6): 325-329
ISSN: 2322-5270; P-ISSN: 2383-0956
Journal homepage: www.NPAJournals.com
© 2014 NPAJournals. All rights reserved
Original Article
Some reproductive Features of Cobitis sp. from Dough River in the southern Caspian Sea basin
Mahin Sheikh*1, Rahman Patimar1, Kiavash Golzarianpour2
1Department of Fishery, Faculty of natural resource, University of Gonbad Kavous, Iran.
2Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Gonbad Kavous, Iran.
Article history:
Received 2 April 2014
Accepted 30 October 2014
Available online 2 5 December 2014
Keywords:
Reproduction
Caspian Sea basin
Egg diameter
Fecundity
Abstract: Cobitis sp. is an endemic spined loach species from the Dough River in the southern Caspian
Sea basin, (Golestan Province, Iran). To provide some reproductive features of this fish, sampling was
performed at monthly intervals throughout the year and 417 individuals were collected. The specimens
ranged in total length from 27.1 to 92.9 mm and total weight from 0.11 to 6.79 g. The spawning of
spined loach of Dough River occurs from March to June. The highest mean value of gonadosomatic
index was observed in April as 1.96 for males and 6.61 for females. Egg diameter ranged from 0.3 to
1.3 mm, with a mean value of 0.9 mm. Absolute fecundity varied from 155.04 to 3212 eggs. Fecundity
relative to total weight fluctuated from 55.41 to 634.76 eggs g–1. This species is among those spawning
early in spring compared to other species of this genus from southern Caspian basin.
Introduction
The genus Cobitis have three valid species in Iran
including Cobitis linea (Heckel, 1849), C. faridpaki
(Mousavi-Sabet, Vasil'eva, Vatandoust and Vasil'ev,
2011) and C. keyvani (Mousavi-Sabet, Yerli,
Vatandoust, Ozeren and Moradkhani, 2012). Cobitis
faridpaki and C. keyvani are found in the southern
Caspian Sea basin. Also, the presence of the spined
loach C. tenia Linnaeus, 1758 has been reported in
this basin (Abdoli and Naderi, 2009). Whereas others
believe that C. taenia is rather a northern European
species and its occurrence in the southern Caspian
Sea basin is unlikely (Kottelat and Freyhof, 2007).
Cobitis linea Heckel, 1849 is found in the Kor River
basin and the upper Kul River drainage of the
Hormozgan basin (Banarescu and Nalbant, 1967;
Bianco and Nalbant, 1980).
The members of Cobitidae are small benthic
freshwater fishes with a wide distribution area
covering large parts of Eurasia and Africa (Perdices
and Doadrio, 1997). Spined loach during day time
remains buried in sand, mud or dense weed growths,
* Corresponding author: Mahin Sheikh
E-mail address: m_sheikh66@yahoo.com
being active at night, and is mostly solitary (Coad,
2012). The loaches achieve sexual maturity in the
first (males) or second (females) year of their life
(Boron and Pimpicka, 2000; Marconato and Rasotto,
1989). Since there is no information is available
about reproductive biology of Dough River
population of genus Cobitis, therefore this study was
conducted to provide some reproductive features of
the member of this population in southern Caspian
Sea basin. The taxonomic position of the population
of genus Cobitis from Dough River (Gorganrood
River basin) is unclear, therefore it is considered as
Cobitis sp. in the present study.
Material and Methods
A total of 417 specimens were collected monthly
from March 2012 till February 2013 using
electrofishing from Dough River (55°44'N, 37°27'E)
(Fig. 1). In the field, all specimens were immediately
preserved in 10% formaldehyde solution and
transferred to the laboratory and then their total and
standard lengths were measured to the nearest 0.01
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International Journal of Aquatic Biology (2014) 2(6): 325-329
mm using calipers. Total weight and weight of
gonads of both sexes were measured with an
electronic analytical balance to the nearest 0.01 and
0.001 g, respectively.
The gonadosomatic index (GSI) was calculated as
GSI=Wg/W×100 (Nikolski, 1963), where Wg is
weight of gonad and W total weight, to estimate the
spawning season. Absolute fecundity (AF) was
estimated in 43 ovaries. The number of eggs was
estimated by the gravimetric method, using three
pieces of approximately 0.02 g each from the
anterior, medial and posterior positions of both
ovarian lobes. The relative fecundity index was
calculated as RF = F/TW, where F is absolute
fecundity and TW total weight (Bagenal and Tesch,
1978). To determine the oocyte diameter, the ovaries
were preserved in 10% formalin solution. The
diameters of 30 ova of each female were measured
using a microscope outfitted with an ocular
micrometer.
All statistical analyses were performed with a
significance level of P<0.05 using the SPSS 17
software package.
Results
In total, 417 specimens of Cobitis sp. were caught,
ranging in total length from 27.1 to 92.9 mm and
total weight from 0.11 to 6.79 g (Table 1).
The highest mean of GSI (±SD) was recorded 96 ±
1.16 for male and 6.61 ± 8.97 for female in April
(Fig. 2). The female’s GSI increased during March to
April, peaking at the mid of spring and then
decreased until August, then showed a slow increase
in December.
The mean value (± SD) of absolute fecundity was
1132.5 ± 674.66. The absolute fecundity was
significantly related to total weight and also gonad
weight (P<0.05), (Fig. 3). The relative fecundity was
55.4 to 634.8 with a mean (±SD) of 279.5 ± 114.49
per gram body weight. There was no significant
Figure 1. Map of southern Caspian basin, Dough River.
Figure 2. Monthly change of GSI in male and female of Cobitis
sp. from the Dough River.
Figure 3. Relationship between absolute fecundity and (A) total
length (mm) and (B) total weight (g) of female Cobitis sp. from
the Dough River.
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Sheikh et al/ Some reproductive Features of Cobitis sp. from Dough River
relationship between relative fecundity and length
and weigh of specimens (P>0.05).
Egg diameter ranged from 0.3 to 1.3 mm, with a
mean value (± SD) of 0.9 ± 0.88. Size distribution of
eggs indicated that the majority of oocytes ranged
from 0.9 to 1 mm (Fig. 4).
Discussion
Gonadosomatic Index is an indirect method for
estimation of spawning time in fishes (Biswas,
1993). In spined loaches, this index increases in
spring and summer, which are spawning seasons,
and low in winter (Wootton, 1979). In this study, GSI
reached its peak in April in both sexes, which
indicates concurrency of sexual maturity. As
compared with other species of this genus from
southern Caspian Sea basin, this species is among
those spawning early in spring (early spring species).
Concurrency of the gonadosomatic index peak in
males and females is among the characteristic of the
population or species of studied southern Caspian
Sea fishes. Typically peaks of this index are
observed in the fish with time difference (although
little), while in this species, peak of the gonad growth
occurs concurrently. Single peak gonad growth
indicates that this species spawns once a year. As
Borone et al. (2008) reported in C. taenia from
Klavoj Lake, Poland from May to July when water
temperature is higher than 18.5ºC. A similar time
was reported for C. bilineata (Marconato and
Rasotto, 1989) in northern Italy and for C. faridpaki
and C. keyvani (Mousavi Sabet et al., 2012) for
southern Caspian Sea basin. In the study conducted
by Patimar et al. (2011) in Siahroud Stream on C. cf.
satunini species, spawning time were reported to be
between April and June, which is similar to
spawning time of European loaches i.e.
C. elongatoides and C. trichonica. Spawning time for
eastern Caspian Sea species of the genus Cobitis was
from March to June (Mousavi Sabet et al., 2012)
Spawning time depends on various factors such as
temperature and food supply. Among various
factors, temperature is the most important
determinant of spawning time. In southern Caspian
Sea basin, spawning was reported to occur during a
period in which the largest food resources were
supplied in the environment for the fish species
living in the streams and rivers (Abdoli and Naderi,
2009). Overall gonadosomatic index pattern is
similar to that of other species and various
populations of loaches, and there is no special
difference in this regard. The only difference may be
peak time of this index, which is in turn occurs in
different months depending on environmental
conditions, especially temperature.
Fecundity is among the important biological indices
that indicate broad changes under diverse
environmental conditions in different populations. In
this study, absolute fecundity has a significant
relationship with fish size (length and weight), but
there was no significant relationship between
Sex N
TL (mm) TW (g)
Mean ± SD Range Mean ± SD Range
Male 289 55.5 ± 0.7 37.7-76.8 1.29 ± 0.49 0.34-3.69
Female 128 50.4 ± 1.58 27.1-92.9 1.25 ± 1.39 0.11-6.79
Table 1. Length and weight (mean ± SD) of males and females of Cobitis sp. from the Dough River.
Figure 4. Oocyte diameter size frequency distribution for Cobitis
sp. from the Dough River.
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International Journal of Aquatic Biology (2014) 2(6): 325-329
relative fecundity and length and weigh, which is
consistent with the studies conducted by Oliva et al.
(2002) on C. paludica and Patimar et al. (2011) on
C. cf. satunini. Direct and significant relationship of
absolute fecundity with fish sizes in the studied
population indicate that the energy allocated to
reproduction is directly related to the size (length and
weight) of the fish; i.e. by increasing age and
consequently length and weight, overall energy
allocated to reproduction increases. But lack of a
significant relationship between relative fecundity
and fish size indicates that increased energetic
investment in reproduction per weight or length unit
does not follow a special rule.
One of the most important cases in examination of
reproduction activities and fecundity of the
populations is examination of ovum diameter. It
seems that increasing food availability in the living
environment of fishes in pre-spawning periods has
evident effect on increasing weight and ova sizes. In
this study, observed ovum varied in size from 0.4 to
1.3 mm. In C. cf. satunini in southern Caspian Sea
basin, ovum diameter was reported in the range of
0.44 to 1.02 mm (Patimar et al., 2011), which is
similar to the results of our study.
The highest absolute fecundity rate in our study
(3212) in 5 years old female fish was higher than
1400 ova (Lobon et al., 1984), 1235 ova (Soriguer et
al., 2000) and 1984 ova (Oliva et al., 2002) for
C. paludica, and 1366 ova for C. faridpaki, and 2211
ova for C. keyvani (Mousavi Sabet et al., 2012), but
lower than 4282 ova for C. taenia (Bohlen, 1986) and
4666 ova for C. cf. satunini (Patimar et al., 2011). If
combined with increased ovum diameter, high
fecundity in the populations indicates the increased
energetic investment in reproduction. But if
combined with decreased ovum diameter, the
increased absolute fecundity indicates high energy
allocation to reproduction per weight unit. Since
relative fecundity had no significant relationship, the
latter cannot be easily concluded. But overall
increase in reproduction energy in C. faridpaki and
C. keyvani can be attributed to the studied
population. However, high absolute fecundity in the
population studied by Patimar et al. (2011) and
C. taenia (Bohlen, 1986) also indicates that the
studied population is in lower rank for allocation of
reproduction energy as compared to some
populations and/or species.
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