This book reviews and summarizes the studies on the fish diversity of Japan. It covers the present knowledge of ichthyofauna, habitat distribution, phylogeography, ecology, morphology, and conservation, as well as the history of ichthyology and fish collections in Japan. The book comprises five parts: I. Fish Diversity and Ichthyology of Japan, II. Habitat Distribution and Species Diversity, III. Diversity within Species: Phylogeographic Perspective on Japanese Fishes, IV. Morphological and Ecological Diversifications, and V. Conservation of Fish Diversity in Japan. The Japanese Archipelago is surrounded by two major warm and one cold currents. It is located in the western North Pacific and encompasses several climatic regimes from north to south. Although the land area of Japan is small, the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Japan ranks as the sixth largest in the world, including several marginal seas (Sea of Okhotsk, Sea of Japan, and East China Sea), and deep trenches (Izu-Ogasawara, Japan, and Kurile Trenches). Owing to a variety of marine habitats and a complex geological history, Japan has a rich fish species diversity, representing over 4,500 species in 370 families. The richness of fish species diversity has attracted many scientists since the late 1700s, and continuous studies have led to the development of ichthyology in Japan. With chapters written by leading experts in the field, the book will provide a stimulating and reliable resource for future research and contribute to the progress of ichthyology of the world.

This book summarizes the status quo of the knowledge about the biodiversity in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine animals that live in Japan. Consisting of some 6,800 islands that are arrayed for approximately 3,500 km from north to south, the Japanese archipelago has a complex history in a paleogeographic formation process over time and harbors rich flora and fauna. This work will contribute to establishing a general biogeographic theory in archipelagoes around continental shelves. Facing the ongoing extinction crisis, one of the most important tasks for our generation is to bequeath this precious natural heritage to future generations. As the first step toward this goal, a species list has been compiled through solid, steady alpha-taxonomic work in each taxon. Furthermore, the phylogeography and population genetic structure for each species is elucidated for deeper understanding of the local fauna, the scientific results of which should be the basis for establishing conservation policies and strategies. Also the problem of alien or introduced species is investigated as another threat to the native fauna.Each of the 27 chapters is written by the most active specialist leading the field, thus readers can acquire up-to-date knowledge of the animal species diversity and their formation process of Japanese animals in the most comprehensive form available. This book is recommended for researchers and students who are interested in species diversity, biogeography, and phylogeography.

This volume is a collection of papers assembled to honor Hiroya Kawanabe, an eminent Japanese ecologist who studied fishes and other organisms. Kawanabe retired from his position as Professor at Kyoto University in March 1996. In the first section of the volume his career is highlighted by a biography describing his life and work, a bibliography of his more than 750 lifetime publications, and a personal interview with a colleague who has been close to his work throughout his career. Papers in the second section of the volume include invited reviews of research on fish ecology in Japan, a historical overview of freshwater fishes of Japan, and recent studies on sex change among reef fishes. The 24 papers in the third section of the volume by Japanese fish biologists and their collaborators cover a wide variety of topics on fish biology. These include papers on evolution, genetics, systematics, reproductive biology, early life history, life history variation, behavior, physiology, ecology, and zoogeography. These papers address fishes from lentic, lotic, and marine ecosystems in Japan, Asia, Africa, North America, and in some cases worldwide. One of Hiroya Kawanabe's most brilliant and lasting contributions was to foster collaboration between Japanese ecologists and other scientists.

Japan is one of the world’s largest fish-eating countries with a long history, and has developed its own customs and values in terms of managing fisheries resources. The first half of this book introduces the history and institutional features of capture fisheries management in Japan, with 9 case studies from sub-arctic to tropical ecosystems, from sedentary to migratory species, and from small-scale coastal to offshore industrial fisheries. For example, coastal fisheries management is more community-based, and local people have the authority and take priority in the decision-making process. In contrast, offshore fisheries are more industrialized and commercially oriented, and the national government plays a major role in their management. One of the main challenges in world fisheries is to implement the ecosystem approach, but there is no one-size-fits-all solution for its implementation. The second half of this book considers the advantages and limitations of the Japanese fisheries management regime and discusses the necessary environmental policy measures to bridge the gaps between fisheries management and ecosystem-based management. As a case study, management measures in the Shiretoko World Natural Heritage area are analyzed. In closing, the Grand Plan of Japanese fisheries policy for the next 20 years and three future scenarios are presented.

This is an English Edition of Fishes of Japan by Dr. Toshiji Kamohara. Since Japan is surrounded by the sea on all sides, varieties of fishes such temperate, polar, and tropical fish are found in the present day Japan. For example, the herring, sardine, bonito, tuna, mackerel, yellow-tail, codfish and the like. This book chooses 312 species of marine and freshwater fishes from all the Japanese species whist is estimated to be 2000, and describes their ecology, characteristics, habits, utility, size, etc. with texts and figures on 64 full color plates of highest quality.