著者

James Davis Reimer Chloé Julie Loïs Fourreau Takuma Fujii Yuji Ise Yuka Kushida Iori Mizukami Megumi Nakano

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.17, no.3, pp.249-254, 2022-08-30 (Released:2022-08-30)

参考文献数

13

被引用文献数

3

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We report the presence of the coral-killing sponge species Chalinula nematifera (de Laubenfels, 1954) in southern Japan via photographic records and specimens. The species appears to be a substrate generalist on scleractinians and occasionally octocorals, and is found across a wide variety of depths (0 to 24 m), as has been recently reported for this species from Indonesia. From our information, the species is found in southern Japan across the southern and central Ryukyu Islands, with a northern limit of Amami-Oshima Island, although future work will likely expand the range. As our records stretch back more than 20 years, we do not believe Chalinula nematifera is a recent arrival to the region. Due to the potential for this species to harm coral reefs, we suggest field surveys are needed to establish a baseline distribution and abundance database to aid in future monitoring.

著者

Yuka Kushida Shiori Kunihiro 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.18, no.1, pp.52-54, 2023-02-28 (Released:2023-03-02)

参考文献数

19

被引用文献数

1

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Associations between different taxa constitute critical data to recognize ecological symbioses. Acoela flatworms of the genus Waminoa are an overlooked but often present group in coral reef ecosystems. More than 97% of the reports on Waminoa individuals until now have found them on scleractinian coral species, and the relationships between Waminoa species and other potential hosts such as octocorals, which are often large and ecologically important components in coral reefs, are not known well. Here we report the first observation of Waminoa sp. from a species of Dendronephthya, at Zanpa, Okinawa, Japan. We observed three morphotypes on a colony of D. aff. rigida (Studer, 1888), with almost all Waminoa individuals in shaded locations.

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.