Hawaiian freshwater goby

The Hawaiian freshwater goby,[2] Lentipes concolor (‘o‘opu ‘alamo‘o or ‘o‘opu hi‘u koleis),[3] is a species of goby endemic to Hawaii, where it occurs in mountain streams. Males of this species can reach a standard length of 7 cm (2.8 in), while females only reach 6 cm (2.4 in).[4]

Hawaiian freshwater goby
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gobiiformes
Family: Oxudercidae
Genus: Lentipes
Species:
L. concolor
Binomial name
Lentipes concolor
(T. N. Gill, 1860)
Synonyms
  • Sicyogaster concolor T. N. Gill, 1860
  • Lentipes seminudus Günther, 1880

This species is important to the native people as a food fish.[4] In Ancient Hawaiʻi, this species, and others such as mullet and Kuhlia sandvicensis, were cultivated in a form of freshwater aquaponics or aquatic polyculture. In this system of farming, the taro in the upland paddies (taro being the primary staple in Ancient Hawaiʻi) was aided by the fish such as the Hawaiʻian freshwater goby, through these fish pruning the leaves and eating the pests, thus leading to a symbiotic system of food production.[5][6][7]

This species has a salmon-like lifestyle. The adults live in fresh water where they also spawn. The eggs and embryos float down the stream into the sea where they eventually reach the juvenile stage. The juveniles then return to the fresh water streams to become adults.[2] L. concolor is notable for its unusual method of returning to the spawning beds (something they however share with a few other gobies, including another Hawaiian species, Sicyopterus stimpsoni); they use suction disks on their ventral sides to climb the wet rocks behind waterfalls, even scaling the 442 ft-high (135 m) Akaka Falls.[8]

References
  1. Gimenez Dixon, M. (1996). "Lentipes concolor". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T11501A3287697. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T11501A3287697.en.
  2. Carl M. Way, Albert J. Burky, Juliana M. Harding, Skippy Hau, William K.L.C. Puleloa (1998). Reproductive biology of the endemic goby, Lentipes concolor, from Makamaka'ole Stream, Maui and Waikolu Stream, Moloka'i Environmental Biology of Fishes 01-1998, Volume 51, Issue 1, pp 53-65
  3. http://www.bishopmuseum.org/research/natsci/waipiostudy/students/meet_the_critters/fish/native/Lentipes_concolor.htm Bishop Museum - L. concolor
  4. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2013). "Lentipes concolor" in FishBase. June 2013 version.
  5. Rosauer, Ruth. "Ancient Hawaiian Aquaculture". Foundation for Agrarian Development Research, Moscow State University. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  6. Spalding, Mark (11 July 2013). "Sustainable Ancient Aquaculture". National Geographic. National Geographic Society. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  7. "FOOD IN OLD HAWAIʻI" (PDF). Ka Hana ‘Imi Na‘auao, University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  8. Mack, E. (25 February 2014). Where badass fish climb rock cliffs... with their mouths. CNET.
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