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Professor Dr. Takaomi Arai is currently Senior Professor at the Environmental and Life Sciences Programme, Faculty of Science, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. He received a MS in fisheries from the Course of Fisheries Science and Technology, Graduate School of Fisheries Research, Tokyo University of Fisheries, and a PhD in aquatic bioscience from the Department of Aquatic Bioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo. Prior to his current position, he worked at The University of Tokyo, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, where he mentored many undergraduate and graduate students in Aquatic Biology, Environmental Science, and Fish Biology and Ecology. He also served as an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia.

Takaomi’s current research interests are eel biology and ecology and fish migration. He has studied the biology, ecology, and migration of tropical eels of the genus Anguilla in Southeast Asia for over two decades, a field of research he established as a PhD student. Tropical anguillid eels are considered a major target to meet the high demand for eel resources around the world. Furthermore, studying their life history and migration patterns provides clues to understanding the nature of primitive forms of catadromous migration in anguillid eels, and his research has elucidated the evolutionary pathways of migration in the species. He has also revealed diverse migration patterns and strategies between fresh water and marine habitats in various diadromous fish species by means of otolith microchemistry and field research. Takaomi has written more than 200 scientific articles and two books. He was an editor of “Biology and Ecology of Anguillid Eels”.

Takaomi joined the Editorial Board of Environmental Biology of Fishes in 2021. He is also on the Editorial Board of Thalassas: An International Journal of Marine Sciences, serves as a Review Editor for Frontiers in Marine Science, and guest edited two journal special issues on the ecology and biology of aquatic animals and aquatic biodiversity under the impact of climate change.