| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中興大學 === 生命科學系所 === 99 === The Kaomei wetland in west-central Taiwan is a salt marsh ecosystem, it serves as feeding habitat and nursery for many estuarine fishes. Several intertidal environmental conditions, such as temperature and water, fluctuate greatly, and fishes breeding in such conditions should find suitable time and season so as to maximize offspring survival. Takifugu niphobles distributes widely on the coastal region of in western Pacific and is the most abundant fish species in Kaomei wetland. The reproductive seasons, the process of oocyte formation, and the environment factors that affect reproduction of Takifugu niphobles in Taiwan were investigated. I conducted fish sampling from 2007 to 2009 on the northern coast of Tachia Creek and in Kaomei wetland. Adult fishes were sampled using fyke net, and juveniles were collected using the fine-meshed seine. Takifugu niphobles was the most abundant species, and accounted for 42.2% of the total catch. Significantly more puffers were collected in Kaomei wetland than on the northern coast of Tachia Creek; and the puffers at the Kaomei wetland were active and feeding during the daytime. The spatial distribution of the puffers was not the same in cold and warm seasons, probably resulting from the different environmental conditions and the resource distribution between seasons. The process of oocyte formation in female Takifugu niphobles is of the synchronous type. Breeding season of the puffers at the Kaomei wetland is from February to April based on oocyte composition and the gonadosomatic index (GSI). The Kaomei wetland also serves as nursery area for juvenile puffers because fish fry were also collected after breeding season. Air and water temperature, evaporation, and solar radiation were the factors responsible for the maturation of puffers, and probably is the reason that the reproductive season of the population of Takifugu niphobles in Taiwan is different from those from Japan and Hong Kong.
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