The spatial and temporal variations of the fish assemblages in mountain streams of China are poorly understood. The relationships between the fish assemblage and selected habitat features were examined in the North Tiaoxi River, one of headwaters of Taihu Lake. A total of 3,348 individuals belonging to 5 orders, 11 families, 25 genera and 34 species were collected including 33 native species and one invasive species. Among those, about 20 species were endemic to China. Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) was applied to compare fish assemblage structures from upstream to downstream during four seasons. Species assemblages differed along the stream continuum, but there was little apparent change associated with the seasons. Species richness and Shannon-Weaver index (H′) tended to increase along the stream continuum from the upstream to downstream and the proportion of invertivorous fish tended to significantly decrease along the continuum with a parallel significant increase in the percentage of omnivores. Fish assemblages were significantly related to both water quality and habitat structure variables. Canonical Correspondence Analysis ordinations (CCA) revealed that 6 of the 14 selected environmental variables had significant relationships with the fish assemblage such as distance to source, stream width, altitude, pH, water depth, and water velocity and different sampling sites were associated with different environmental variables in different seasons. The main differences in fish assemblage structure and diversity within the whole watercourse are probably related to large-scale factors such distance to source, altitude and stream width. Differences of instream characteristics are likely to be caused by natural variability of the ecosystems but also, in some case, by anthropogenic influence like human settlements, agriculture and river embankment and pollution from small factory.

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Both hydropower dams and global warming pose threats to freshwater fish diversity. While the extent of global warming may be reduced by a shift towards energy generation by large dams in order to reduce fossil-fuel use, such dams profoundly modify riverine habitats. Furthermore, the threats posed by dams and global warming will interact: for example, dams constrain range adjustments by fishes that might compensate for warming temperatures. Evaluation of their combined or synergistic effects is thus essential for adequate assessment of the consequences of planned water-resource developments. We made projections of the responses of 363 fish species within the Indo-Burma global biodiversity hotspot to the separate and joint impacts of dams and global warming. The hotspot encompasses the Lower Mekong Basin, which is the world’s largest freshwater capture fishery. Projections for 81 dam-building scenarios revealed progressive impacts upon projected species richness, habitable area, and the proportion of threatened species as generating capacity increased. Projections from 126 global-warming scenarios included a rise in species richness, a reduction in habitable area, and an increase in the proportion of threatened species; however, there was substantial variation in the extent of these changes among warming projections. Projections from scenarios that combined the effects of dams and global warming were derived either by simply adding the two threats, or by combining them in a synergistic manner that took account of the likelihood that habitat shifts under global warming would be constrained by river fragmentation. Impacts on fish diversity under the synergistic projections were 10–20% higher than those attributable to additive scenarios, and were exacerbated as generating capacity increased—particularly if CO2 emissions remained high. The impacts of dams, especially those on river mainstreams, are likely to be greater, more predictable and more immediately pressing for fishes than the consequences of global warming. Limits upon dam construction should therefore be a priority action for conserving fish biodiversity in the Indo-Burma hotspot. This would minimize synergistic impacts attributable to dams plus global warming, and help ensure the continued provision of ecosystem services represented by the Lower Mekong fishery.

The distribution of the oriental weatherloach, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, together with related environmental factors were surveyed at 185 paddy field locations on Sado Island in Japan. This was associated with the reintroduction of the Japanese crested ibis, Nipponia nippon, which prefers to feed on the loach. Loach were found to be present at 90 locations (49%). Analysis with GIS, GLM and AIC revealed that positive factors for the loach distribution included the presence of an earth ditch, the connections at outlets and the proportion of paddy field area within an 800 m radius. Conversely, pumping-up water irrigation and flow irrigation affected loach distribution negatively. In an interview survey that was conducted concurrently, older farmers in the area recalled that the loach had once been distributed over almost the entire island (89/96, 93%) about half a century ago. The farmers also suggested that the impact of agricultural chemicals was one of the main reasons for loach reduction or local extinction. A map of the current potential loach distribution was made using the best fit model from GIS variables. The loach was expected to be distributed in the Kuninaka region with high probability (60-100%) and in patches in the Osado and Kosado regions with low-medium probability (10-50%). As a feasible scenario for the conservation of the loach, another predictive map of the loach distributions was made using a model fit based on the GIS variables and outlet connection, in which the all of the outlets were presumed to be connected to the ditches without gaps. In this case, the loach were expected to be distributed almost throughout the paddy fields with medium-high probability (40-100%). In another scenario that presumed the complete land consolidation of all the paddy fields, the probability of loach occurrence was low (0-30%) throughout the island with the exception of the island's center in the Kuninaka region.

Hopong, a small town in the Salween (Thanlwin) River Basin, Myanmar, is located 35 km northeast of Inle Lake, a famous ancient lake with numerous endemic fish species. We surveyed the fish fauna of a spring pond in Hopong in 2016, 2019 and 2020 and identified 25 species. Of these, seven, including Inlecypris auropurpureus and Sawbwa resplendens, had been considered endemic to Inle Lake and at least three species were genetically unique. Eight were suspected or definite introduced species, including Oreochromis niloticus and Gambusia affinis. We were unable to identify a nemacheilid species of the genus Petruichthys, which would need a taxonomic examination. The Hopong area is being developed rapidly and, hence, it is crucial to conserve its native fish species and the freshwater ecosystems.

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Waterfalls may affect fish distribution and genetic structure within drainage networks even to the extent of leading evolutionary events. Here, parallel evolution was studied by focusing on waterfall and the landlocked freshwater goby Rhinogobius sp. YB (YB), which evolved from amphidromous R. brunneus (BR). The fish fauna was surveyed at 30 sites in 11 rivers on Iriomote Island, Japan, the geography of which was characterized by terraces/tablelands with many waterfalls. We found that all YB individuals were distributed only above waterfalls (height 6.8–58.7 m), whereas BR, and other fishes, were mostly distributed below waterfalls. Mitochondrial DNA analysis showed that every YB local population above the waterfall was independently evolved from BR. In contrast, cluster analysis of nine morphological characters, such as fin color and body pattern, showed that the morphology of YB individuals held a similarity beyond the genetic divergence, suggesting parallel evolution has occurred relating to their morphology. Genetic distance between each YB local population and BR was significantly correlated with waterfall height (r2 = 0.94), suggesting that the waterfalls have been heightened due to the constant geological erosion and that their height represents the isolation period of YB local populations from BR (ca. 11,000–88,000 years). Each local population of BR was once landlocked in upstream by waterfall formation, consequently evolving to YB in each site. Although the morphology of YB had a high degree of similarity among local populations, finer scale analysis showed that the morphology of YB was significantly correlated with the genetic distance from BR. Consequently, there could be simultaneous multiple phases of allopatric/parallel evolution of the goby due to variations in waterfall height on this small island.

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