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Aquatic Physiology Lab
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The lab explores how fish are able to change sex and migrate between rivers and the sea.
AboutAbout the lab
Uncovering how fish bodies and behavior work
The Aquatic Physiology Lab studies the mechanisms that determine fish physiological functions and behavior.
Fish are vertebrates like humans and share a similar body plan, but they also have features not seen in humans, such as sex change and migration.
The lab tackles questions such as why fish can change sex so easily and how they adapt to diverse environments ranging from freshwater to the sea.
Questions about the research or the lab, and lab visits, are welcome at any time.
Key terms
- Sex steroid hormones
- Female sex hormones, male sex hormones, and progestogens released from the testes and ovaries
- Sex change
- A change of sex during an individual's lifetime, from female to male or from male to female
- Ionocytes
- Cells in fish gills. They regulate the salt (ion) levels inside the body by taking ions in and releasing them
NewsLab news
Published a paper on how ayu landlocked in Lake Biwa adapt to seawater
A paper showing the role of female sex hormones produced in the male brain was published in eLife
A doctoral student received the Toshihiko Tokizane Memorial Award for Outstanding Doctoral Research in Neuroscience
Published a paper on chloride ion transport in the gills of rainbow trout
Assistant Professor Inokuchi published a paper on the development of ionocytes in the cloudy catshark
ResearchResearch themes
The lab seeks to clarify the mechanisms that determine the unique physiological functions and behaviors that fish show but humans do not, such as sex change and migration. It is pursuing research on brain sex using medaka, and research on adaptation to freshwater and seawater using fish such as tilapia and sea bass.
*Illustrative imageHow the brain creates differences between males and females
Using medaka, the lab investigates what mechanisms in the brain are activated by sex steroid hormones released from the testes and ovaries, and how these produce male-female differences in behavior and physiological functions.
*Illustrative imageHow the brain makes sex change possible
The fish brain retains the ability to reverse sex even in adulthood. The lab discovered FeSP neurons, which are found only in the female medaka brain, and is researching them on the view that they are the core of the mechanism that makes sex change possible.
*Illustrative imageMechanisms of adaptation to freshwater and seawater
Using the salinity-tolerant Mozambique tilapia, the lab examines how ionocytes in the gills regulate the uptake and excretion of ions in response to changes in the surrounding salinity.
*Illustrative imageBodily mechanisms that support migration
The lab examines how, in the gills of sea bass moving from the sea into rivers, ionocytes change both their distribution and their function at the same time. The lab is also involved in developing aquaculture techniques for efficiently raising salmonids.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Aquatic Physiology Lab consist of faculty, academic specialists, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorKataaki OkuboPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorMayu InokuchiPublications ↗
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Nihon Medaka in Medaka World of Higashiyama Zoo - 2” KKPCW / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- How the brain creates differences between males and females: “Nihonmedaka” NOZO / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- How the brain makes sex change possible: “Bluestreak cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) ( )” Rickard Zerpe / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Mechanisms of adaptation to freshwater and seawater: “Oreochromis mossambicus” Greg Hume / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Bodily mechanisms that support migration: “Japanese Sea Bass” Kinori / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (水産増養殖学研究室): “Lake Hamana (Aerial)” SUGI MAKOTO / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (
行動生態計測分野(坂本研究室)): “Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) ( )” Cliff from Arlington, Virginia, USA / CC BY 2.0 (cropped) - Related lab (分子海洋生物学分野(分子海洋生物学グループ)
（井上 広滋研究室） ): “Colonie de modioles (Bathymodiolus azoricus) sur une cheminée hydrothermale (Ifremer )” Ifremer / CC BY 4.0 (cropped) - Related lab (魚病学研究室
（伊藤直樹研究室） ): “Matoya Bay 01” Miyuki Meinaka / Public domain (cropped)
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