Abstract
Tidepools are a major component of coastal environments and useful for evaluating the potential impacts of various factors on marine environments. We have investigated the structure of tidepool fish assemblages on the Danjo Islands, an isolated and uninhabited group of islands located in the northern East China Sea in the western Pacific. Standardised quantitative fish sampling and supplementary visual observation in 2017–2018 revealed that tidepool fish assemblages on the Danjo Islands were characterised by the dominance of Blenniidae, and that species composition was clearly distinct from sites in southern Japan (Ryukyu archipelagos and Kyushu region), while all species were non-endemic, i.e. widely distributed and common in southern Japan. Compared to the survey in the 1970s, the species composition of tidepool fishes on the Danjo Islands appeared to have shifted slightly towards the pattern observed in southern regions during the past half century. Given little or no anthropogenic impact on coastal environments of the Islands, the observed changes in the tidepool fish community are likely to result mainly from temporal variations under the prevailing environmental changes.
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Data availability
A set of collected specimens is stored in the Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory, Kyushu University (no. AMBL-KU5015). Data archiving is not mandated but data will be made available on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Goto City Board of Education for permission of landing (no. 29-43, 29-1206) and kindly providing us with the information on the number of permissions issued. We also express thanks to the Japan Coast Guard and the Fishermen's cooperatives of Goto and Goto-Fukue for permissions to use the pier and to engage in fish collection, respectively. The authors are grateful to all members of the Danjo marine life expedition, in particular K Tanaka who single-handedly operated the AMBL research vessel “Seriola”. Two anonymous reviewers’ comments helped improve this manuscript.
Funding
The research surveys were financially supported by the Pro Natura Foundation Japan. The part of this study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP18K06384 to SA.
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SA conceived the research project and carried out field surveys and analyses. SA and MT read and approved the final manuscript.
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All applicable international, national and/or institutional guidelines for animal testing, animal care and use of animals were followed by the authors.
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All necessary permits for sampling and observational field studies have been obtained by the authors from the competent authorities and are mentioned in the acknowledgements, if applicable. The study is compliant with CBD and Nagoya protocols.
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Arakaki, S., Tokeshi, M. Assessment of decadal changes in the tidepool fish assemblage of Danjo Islands in the northern East China Sea. Mar. Biodivers. 52, 25 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-022-01265-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-022-01265-5