著者

Yuka Kushida Hiroki Kise Catherine S. McFadden James Davis Reimer

出版者

The Plankton Society of Japan, The Japanese Association of Benthology

雑誌

Plankton and Benthos Research (ISSN:18808247)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.15, no.3, pp.259-268, 2020-08-14 (Released:2020-08-04)

参考文献数

48

被引用文献数

1 4

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Sea pens are ecologically important habitats for associated marine organisms, serving as ecosystem engineers in sandy or muddy seafloor environments. In such areas, sea pens can form habitats with high population densities known as “sea pen fields”. However, the presence and importance of sea pen fields have not been well studied in shallow waters in East Asia. Here, we report a sea pen field of Virgularia sp. aff. gustaviana in the shallow waters of Ushibuka Marine Park, in the Amakusa Islands of southern Japan. The average colony numbers of the field across all depths (7–20 m) was 10.3 colonies/m2 (live colonies) to 13.6 colonies/m2 (all: live+dead colonies+holes), and the area of the sea pen field was at least ∼50,000 m2. At a depth of 15 m, the substratum consisted of sand and fallen leaves of terrestrial origin, and the highest sea pen density was observed (averages=17.2 live colonies/m2, =25.8 total (live+dead+holes) colonies/m2). At a depth of 20 m, the substratum consisted of broken shells and rocks and had the lowest density (live colonies: average=0.8 colonies/m2, all: average=1.0 colonies/m2). There were significant differences in colony number of Virgularia sp. aff. gustaviana between the “sand”, “sand+leaves”, and “broken shells/rocks” substrates. We hypothesize that the strength of the water currents caused by local geographic features and tidal movements produce suitable sedimentation and habitat for this species of sea pen. Therefore, we suggest that preserving the natural coastline is crucial to protect this and other sea pen fields in shallow waters and their benthic marine communities.

著者

James Davis Reimer Takuma Fujii Hiroki Kise Kensuke Yanagi Katie Cook James Cant Keita Koeda Tatsuki Koido Takaya Kitamura Takuma Mezaki

出版者

The Plankton Society of Japan, The Japanese Association of Benthology

雑誌

Plankton and Benthos Research (ISSN:18808247)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.15, no.2, pp.185-187, 2020-05-27 (Released:2020-05-30)

参考文献数

13

被引用文献数

1

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The zooxanthellate scleractinian species Goniopora stokesi is widely distributed across the Indo-Pacific Ocean, and in Japan the northernmost records of this species are from Tatsukushi, Kochi on Shikoku, although these records are not associated with specimens deposited in museums. The species is unique among Goniopora in that it lives on soft bottom sediment, forming free-living colonies, and produces asexual daughter colonies, or ‘polyp balls,’ via budding from parent colonies. Here we report on a large G. stokesi community from Otsuki, Kochi, Japan, representing the northernmost specimen-based record of the species. Specimen-based records are important as verifiable baseline data in light of global warming and climate change, which is expected to drastically effect the marine flora and fauna of Kochi and surrounding areas.

著者

Hiroki Kise Naoko Dewa James Davis Reimer

出版者

The Plankton Society of Japan, The Japanese Association of Benthology

雑誌

Plankton and Benthos Research (ISSN:18808247)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.13, no.3, pp.136-141, 2018-08-27 (Released:2018-08-29)

参考文献数

32

被引用文献数

4

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The species Epizoanthus planus is the only known described zoantharian with an association with echinoderms, and it is known to live on the spines of living sea urchins from the family Cidaridae. This species has been reported from 741 to 1019 m in the Indian Ocean and the East China Sea. However, diagnostic characters are lacking in both the original description and subsequent studies. The present study reports the first record of E. planus from Japanese waters (300–400 m) based on a newly collected specimen, and this record slightly extends the species distribution range in the northwest Pacific Ocean. This new record increases the number of Epizoanthus species in Japanese waters to at least five species. Although many taxonomy and diversity studies have focused on specimens from SCUBA-based collections in Japanese waters, few studies have focused on zoantharians in deeper waters below SCUBA diving limits. The results of the present study highlight the importance of examining specimens from deeper waters to better understand the overall diversity of the order Zoantharia.

著者

Naoto Jimi Natsumi Hookabe Shinta Fujimoto Hiroki Kise Akito Ogawa Masashi Tsuchiya

出版者

The Plankton Society of Japan, The Japanese Association of Benthology

雑誌

Plankton and Benthos Research (ISSN:18808247)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.18, no.4, pp.178-184, 2023-11-27 (Released:2023-11-30)

参考文献数

18

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Three distinct species of fauveliopsid polychaetes were collected from deep-sea sediments in the northwestern Pacific Ocean off Japan. Two of these species were obtained from bathyal and abyssal depths in the Shikoku Basin and were identified as Fauveliopsis levensteinae and Laubieriopsis hartmanae, which have been previously reported from the abyssal plains of the North Pacific Ocean. The third species collected from bathyal depths off Yakushima is new to science and described as Laubieriopsis verrucosa sp. nov. This new species can be distinguished from its congeners by having numerous body papillae across the whole body, 21 chaetigers, and an unpaired genital papilla on the right side of the posterior margin of chaetiger 8. A key to identify Japanese species of Fauveliopsidae is also included.