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Fish Diversity Along the Kuroshio Current

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Fish Diversity of Japan

Abstract

The present-day fish diversity and ichthyofauna of southern Japan, including the Izu, Ogasawara, and Nansei islands, have become established mainly due to the physical characteristics of the Kuroshio Current and associated currents. The Kuroshio Current plays dispersal and vicariance roles in the distribution of fishes in southern Japan, and the close interplay between the current and various life history and biological features of each species has created a complex ichthyofauna. Recent comprehensive ichthyofaunal surveys have revealed that the ichthyofauna of southern Japan is divided into two major groups, the boundary between them being between Yaku-shima Island and “Tanegashima, Iwo-jima, and Take-shima islands” in the Osumi Islands (called the Osumi Line), although such a boundary was previously thought to be located in the Tokara Islands. In this chapter, the relationship between the Kuroshio Current and ichthyofauna is reviewed, and the division of such fauna by the Osumi Line outlined. In addition, the unique ichthyofauna of Yaku-shima Island is introduced.

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Acknowledgments

We are especially grateful to M. Itou, Y. Haraguchi, M. Takayama, other volunteers, students of the Kagoshima University Museum, and local fishermen and scuba divers for their kind assistance; S. Harazaki and I. Takaku (Yaku-shima Island, Japan) for providing underwater photographs; and G. Hardy (Ngunguru, New Zealand) for reading the manuscript and providing help with English. This study was supported in part by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 20H03311 and 21H03651; and “Establishment of Glocal Research and Education Network in the Amami Islands” project of Kagoshima University adopted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

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  1. The Kagoshima University Museum, Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Japan

    Hiroyuki Motomura

  2. Department of Environmental Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Kindai University, Nakamachi, Nara, Japan

    Mizuki Matsunuma

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  1. Hiroyuki Motomura
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  2. Mizuki Matsunuma
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Correspondence to Hiroyuki Motomura .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Maizuru Fisheries Research Station, Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University, Maizuru, Kyoto, Japan

    Yoshiaki Kai

  2. The Kagoshima University Museum, Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Japan

    Hiroyuki Motomura

  3. Department of Zoology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Keiichi Matsuura

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Motomura, H., Matsunuma, M. (2022). Fish Diversity Along the Kuroshio Current. In: Kai, Y., Motomura, H., Matsuura, K. (eds) Fish Diversity of Japan. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7427-3_5

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