Verasper Variegatus Research Articles

Food utilization of adult flatfishes co-occurring in the Bohai Sea of China

Stomach contents were examined of 4527 adult individuals of 12 flatfish species collected during the 1982–1983 Bohai Sea Fisheries Resources Investigation. Their food habits, diet diversity, similarity of prey taxa, trophic niche breadth and diet overlap were systematically analysed. Ninety-seven prey species belonging to the Coelenterata, Nemertinea, Polychaeta, Mollusca, Crustacea, Echinodermata, Hemichordata and fish were found and five of them were considered to be principal prey for flatfishes: Alpheus japonicus, Oratosquilla oratoria, Alpheus distinguendus, Loligo japonicus and Crangon affinis. Among the flatfishes, Paralichthys olivaceus was piscivorous, whereas Pseudopleuronectes yokohamae and Pseudopleuronectes herzensteini both had polychaetes and molluscs as their main prey groups. Pleuronichthys cornutus was classified as a polychaete-mollusc eater, with a strong preference for crustaceans. Verasper variegatus, Cynoglossus semilaevis, Eopsetta grigorjewi and Cleisthenes herzensteini ate crustaceans. Kareius bicoloratus was classified as a mollusc-crustacean eater. Cynoglossus abbreviatus, Cynoglossus joyneri and Zebrias zebra were grouped as crustacean-fish eaters. However, Z. zebra also took polychaetes and C. abbreviatus and C. joyneri preyed on some molluscs. Trophic relationships among the flatfishes were complicated, but they occupied distinctive microhabitats in different seasons and selected their specific prey items, which was favourable to the stability of the flatfish community in the Bohai Sea.

The biology of flatfish (Pleuronectinae) in the coastal waters of China

This paper summarizes the biology of flatfish (Pleuronectinae) in the coastal waters of China. Species composition, age, gonad maturation, feeding habit, growth, fecundity, distribution and migration are described. Flatfish are an important and abundant group of fishes in the coastal waters of China. 14 Species of 12 genera in the subfamily of Pleuronectinae have been recorded. Most species inhabit the cold waters of the Yellow Sea and its adjacent regions. The total annual catch varies over the years but on average amounts to several tens of thousands of tons, with a maximum of 80 000 tons. The commercially most important species are Kareius bicoloratus, Cleisthenes herzensteini, Eopsetta grigorijewi, Verasper variegatus, Pseudopleuronectes yokohamae, Clidoderma asperrima, Tanakius kitaharae, Pleuronichthys cornutus, Pseudopleuronectes herzensteini, Microstomus achne, a total of 10 species. For the most important species the population parameters are analysed.