Ma B.-S., Nie Y.-Y., Wei K.-J., Xu B., Gan W.-X., Zhu X.-Y., Xu J., Deng L.-J., Yao Y.-H. 2017. Precision of age estimations from otolith, vertebra, and opercular bone of Gymnocypris firmispinatus (Actinopterygii: Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) in the Anning River, China. Acta Ichthyol. Piscat. 47 (4): 321–329.

摘要

Background. Gymnocypris firmispinatus Wu et Wu, 1988 is a small fish with the maximum total length of 242 mm, which occurs only in the Jinsha River and its tributaries (China), at altitudes above 2000 m. Nowadays, G. firmispinatus had been placed in a dangerous situation, due to hydropower station and excessive fishing. However, attempts to develop an effective population management strategy have been obstructed by lack of basic biological information, especially for age estimation. As we known, sectioned otoliths provide the most precise age estimates of many Schizothoracinae fishes, vertebrae and opercular bones were also used for age determination of some fish species. This work aimed to assess the suitability of three calcified structures (otolith, vertebra, and opercular bone) for age estimation of G. firmispinatus.