Ecological stoichiometric pattern and biochemical composition analysis
of Coilia species
Abstract
Ecological stoichiometry is a scientific discipline that studies the
balance of energy and multiple chemical elements in biological systems,
and it has been widely applied in fish research. However, there are few
studies on fishes with different reproductive modes, such as Coilia,
which experience habitat shifts during their life history and serve as
important ecological links between marine and freshwater ecosystems. To
address this gap, we compared the ecological chemical elements of four
Coilia species (C. nasus, C. brachygnathus, C. mystus and C. grayii) to
understand their organismal stoichiometry pattern in terms of changes in
C, N, and P. The result shows, 1) The C content of Coilia had a wide
range and was higher than the general fish, ranging from 40% -70%,
while N% and P% were 4%-12% and 0.5%-3%, respectively. 2)
Diadromous populations showed wider variations of elemental
stoichiometry during migration than non-migration populations, with a
higher coefficient of variation of elements and C:N:P than other Coilia
species. In particular, the C content of diadromous Coilia nasus was the
highest (>60% in the East China Sea) when the fish was
ready for spawning migration, while N and P were opposites. Diadromous
fish might have evolved a mechanism to store as much lipid as possible
in their bodies to meet the energy demand during their long migration
journey; 3) There were certain similarities between the biochemical
composition and elemental changes. The trends of total fat and C content
curves were consistent, with anadromous Coilia nasus storing a large
amount of fat before migration to meet their energy needs during
long-distance migration. The variation trends of crude protein and N
content curve were similar to some degree, with crude protein and total
fat having opposite trends, meaning that increased with a decrease in
total fat, and vice versa