An Evolutionary Strategy for Spawning Habitat Selection by .

In this study, we hypothesized that the limited geographical distribution of in South Korea is closely related to the local abundance of their preferred spawning habitats. Eggs of were most frequently observed in cracks smaller than 5 cm, followed by the nests of other fish, such as . Although eggs of were also found in cracks larger than 6 cm, most of them were consumed or damaged by other fish. However, the number of eggs spawned in cracks smaller than 5 cm remained similar to the number of eggs at the time of initial spawning, even after 9 days. The strong preference of for cracks smaller than 5 cm was found to influence the geographical distribution of in South Korea. In the upper reaches of the Han River, the ratio of cracks smaller than 5 cm is higher than that in the Geum River and in the Nakdong River, which contributes to the stable population growth of there. In the future, management strategies to maintain/restore cracks smaller than 5 cm should be reviewed for the preservation of this endemic fish in South Korea.