Japanese rice fish

Japanese rice fish
Oryzias latipes
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Beloniformes
Family: Adrianichthyidae
Subfamily: Oryziinae
Genus: Oryzias
Species: O. latipes
Binomial name
Oryzias latipes

The Japanese rice fish (Oryzias latipes) also known as the medaka,[1] is a member of genus Oryzias (ricefish), the only genus in the subfamily Oryziinae. This small (up to about 3.6 cm or 1.4 in) native of East Asia is a denizen of rice paddies, marshes, ponds, slow-moving streams and tide pools.[2][3] It is euryhaline, occurring in both brackish and freshwater.[2] It became popular as an aquarium fish because of its hardiness and pleasant coloration: its coloration varies from creamy-white to yellowish in the wild to white, creamy-yellow, or orange in aquarium-bred individuals. Bright yellow, red or green transgenic populations, similar to GloFish, have also been developed, but are banned from sale in the EU.[4] The medaka has been a popular pet since the 17th century in Japan.[5] After fertilization, the female carries her eggs attached between her anal fins for a period before depositing them on plants or alike.[4]

Taxonomy and range

A group in a shallow ditch, a typical habitat of the species (Katori, Japan)

As originally defined, O. latipes was native to much of east and mainland southeast Asia, but in recent decades most of these populations have been split off as separate species based on morphological (morphometrics and meristics) and genetic evidence.[3][6] This limits the native range of definite O. latipes to Japan: eastern and southern Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and smaller southern islands in the country.[6] Formerly included in this species but now regarded as separate are O. sakaizumii in northwestern Honshu in Japan (locally, it hybridizes with O. latipes), and O. sinensis (Chinese rice fish) in much of China, west Korea and parts of mainland southeast Asia.[3][6][7] The taxonomic position of certain populations, including some in China, Laos and east Korea, is unclear and require further study.[3][6] It is possible that all these Chinese populations are part of O. sinensis, but the Laos specimens are relatively large, similar to O. latipes rather than the tiny O. sinensis.[3] The east Korean population is part of a clade with O. sakaizumii and O. latipes. Based on morphology it is closer to O. sakaizumii than O. latipes, but it may be an undescribed species.[6]

O. latipes has been introduced to Hokkaido in northern Japan (where ricefish are not native).[8] There are other reports of introductions around the world, but at least most of those in mainland Asia and Europe involve O. sinensis (Chinese rice fish).[8][9]

Use in science

An orange aquarium variant achieved through selective breeding (photographed from above). Not to be confused with the brightly colored transgenic aquarium variants

Oryzias latipes is a model organism and is extensively used in many areas of biological research, most notably in toxicology. Medaka have a short gestation period, and are reproductively prolific — characteristics that make them easy to rear in the laboratory. They can withstand cold and can be shipped easily. Nearly all aspects of the life cycle of medaka have been analyzed by researchers including sexual behavior, genetic inheritance of coloration, spawning habits, feeding, pathology, embryological development, ecology, etc.[10][11] It has relatively small genome (~800 mega base pairs, half the size of the genome of another popular model fish, the zebrafish) as well as a generation time of 7 weeks (rather than 9 weeks for zebrafish) and hardier growth in a broad temperature range (6–40 °C or 43–104 °F).[12][13]

Transgenic medaka are relatively easy to produce. They have been genetically modified to secrete various human hormones, express promoter sequences from other fish, and to make antimicrobial proteins and a protein that makes the medaka glow fluorescent green, yellow or red.[4][14] There are also many mutations that show up in medaka at random, for example, a mutant strain that lacks scales, and one with extra-long fins. Haploid embryonic stem cell lines have been established.[15]

In space

O. latipes carries the distinction of having been the first vertebrate to mate in orbit.[16] The result of the mating was a brood of healthy fry, hatched on the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1994. O. latipes returned to space in 2012, launched aboard a Soyuz spacecraft Soyuz TMA-06M and housed in an aquarium aboard the International Space Station.

See also

  • Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus), sent to space in 1973 as the first fish

References

  1. ↑ "Common names of Oryzias latipes". FishBase. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  2. 1 2 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2014). "Oryzias latipes" in FishBase. April 2014 version.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Parenti, L.R. (2008). "A phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of ricefishes, Oryzias and relatives (Beloniformes, Adrianichthyidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 154 (3): 494–610. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00417.x.
  4. 1 2 3 "Oryzias latipes". SeriouslyFish. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  5. ↑ Hellweg, M (August 2013). "The Ricefish: An Odd and Interesting Group". TFH Magazine. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Asai, T.; Senou, H.; Hosoya, K. (2011). "Oryzias sakaizumii, a new ricefish from northern Japan (Teleostei: Adrianichthyidae)". Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters. 22 (4): 289–299. ISSN 0936-9902.
  7. ↑ Parenti, L. (2012). "Oryzias sinensis". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2012: e.T181312A1720540. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T181312A1720540.en. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  8. 1 2 "Oryzias latipes". Invasive species of Japan. National Institute for Environmental Studies (Japan). Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  9. ↑ Kottelat, M.; Freyhof, J. (2007). "Handbook of European freshwater fishes". Publications Kottelat, Cornol, Switzerland. ISBN 978-2-8399-0298-4.
  10. ↑ Leroi, Armand Marie. (2003). Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-03110-0.
  11. ↑ "Major topic "Oryzias": free full-text articles in National Library of Medicine".
  12. ↑ "Oryzias latipes, medaka as a model organism: taxonomy, facts, development stages, bibliography at GeoChemBio".
  13. ↑ "Medaka (Oryzias latipes) Genome Browser Gateway".
  14. ↑ Tanaka M, Kinoshita M, Kobayashi D, Nagahama Y (2001). "Establishment of medaka (Oryzias latipes) transgenic lines with the expression of green fluorescent protein fluorescence exclusively in germ cells: a useful model to monitor germ cells in a live vertebrate". Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 98 (5): 2544–9. Bibcode:2001PNAS...98.2544T. doi:10.1073/pnas.041315498. PMC 30174. PMID 11226275.
  15. ↑ Yi, M., et al. Generation of medaka fish haploid embryonic stem cells. Science 326(5951), 430-33, 16 October 2009.
  16. ↑ "Medaka aboard Columbia".
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