Salinity Tolerance of Some Teleost Fishes of Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan

Abstract

Salinity tolerance in some marine teleost fishes was studied. Based on a comparison of sexually mature specimens in the summer season, the investigated species can be arranged in the order of decreasing capability for hyperosmoregulation into the following series: the Far Eastern dace Trybolodon brandti, the haarder Mugil soiuy > the frog sculpin Myoxocephalus stelleri > the snowy sculpin M. brandti > the plain sculpin M. jaok > the masked greenling Hexagrammos octogrammus > the pipefish Syngnathus acusimilis. The adult Far Eastern dace and the haarder showed high salinity tolerance and fully adapted to fresh water. Sculpins and the masked greenling usually occur only in seas or brackish water, but they were capable of enduring fresh water for a long time. Unlike them, the pipefish, which is also a euryhaline fish and occurs in river estuaries and brackish bays, perished in fresh water within 1 h. Representatives of the genus Myoxocephalus show between-species differences in salinity tolerance, which allows them to colonize extensive near-shore areas of the sea and to occupy specific ecological niches.