Morphological and genetic identification of formalin-fixed gobioid larvae and description of postflexion larvae of Paragunnellichthys sp. and Ctenogobiops feroculus

• Published in: Ichthyological Research Vol. 68; no. 1; pp. 182 - 190
• Main Authors: Hanahara, Nozomi, Miyamoto, Kei, Oka, Shin-ichiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Springer Science and Business Media LLC 01.01.2021; Springer Japan; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Biomedical and Life Sciences; coasts; Ctenogobiops feroculus; Ecology; Formaldehyde; formalin; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; genes; genetic testing; Identification; Larvae; Life Sciences; Marine fishes; Mitochondria; Morphology; Nucleic acids; Nucleotide sequence; Paragunnellichthys; ribosomal RNA; RNA; rRNA 12S; Ryukyu Archipelago; Short Report; Zoology; 12S rRNA; Fish larvae; Goby; DNA barcoding; Molecular identification
• ISSN: 1341-8998; 1616-3915
• DOI: 10.1007/s10228-020-00769-z

Gobioid larvae collected from the coast of Okinawa Island, southern Japan, were identified on the basis of a combination of morphological characters and a sequence of a hypervariable region of mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA (12S rRNA) gene (138–145 base pairs). A short-term formalin fixation technique enabled identification using both morphological and genetic methods. Thirteen of the 21 types of gobioid larvae assessed were identified to the species level. Additionally, we described the morphology of the postflexion larvae of wormfish Paragunnellichthys sp. and shrimp-associated goby Ctenogobiops feroculus , identified for the first time in their respective genera.