Skip the menu

MOE home > Nature and Parks > EBSA home > Coastal Area > 13001 Mikawa Bay

 

Coastal Area 13001 Mikawa Bay

Basic Information A separate window opensReferences

Relevant municipalities Gamagori, Takahama, Nishio, Tahara, Minamichita, Handa, Mihama, Taketoyo, Hekinan, Toyohashi, Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture
Area (km2) 484

Reason(s) for selection A separate window opensCriteria

Selected due to high levels for the criteria 1, 2 and 3, and selected by MARXAN software.

Characteristics A separate window opensReferences

These are the waters from Cape Irago to Mikawa Bay and the southern Chita Peninsula. In the vicinity of Cape Irago seaweed communities unfold consisting mainly of kombu kelp and Sargassum fulvellum (Ministry of the Environment, 2001). While land reclamation and other activities in Mikawa Bay have led to the loss of many tidal mud flats, shallows, and seaweed beds, worsening of water quality, red and discolored tide, as well as worsening of the environment through hypoxia, it also is a highly productive area where Japanese littleneck clam live. At Ikawazu in the southern part of Mikawa Bay (the Fukue tidal mud flats) are relatively large numbers of species and individual specimens during the migration seasons of spring and fall, and here at least 0.25% of the minimum estimated population of grey-headed lapwing, lesser sand plover, grey-tailed tattler, ruddy turnstone, and dunlin have been recorded, and Far Eastern curlew, common redshank, and oriental pratincole have been recorded here as well. At the mouth of the Shinbori River communities of Juncaginaceae, Suaeda maritima, Artemisia fukudo, Limonium tetragonum and other plants endemic to saltwater marshlands can be seen. Numerous species of birds, in large populations, visit the Shiokawa tidal mud flats of eastern Mikawa Bay during the spring and fall migrations and winter there, where at least 1% of the minimum estimated population of grey-headed lapwing, black-bellied plover, and dunlin and at least 0.25% of the minimum estimated population of Eurasian oystercatcher, lesser sand plover, Numenius phaeopus, spotted redshank, ruddy turnstone, grey-tailed tattler, and red-necked stint have been recorded. Little curlew, black-winged stilt, Far Eastern curlew, common redshank, and Latham's snipe have been recorded here, where benthic organisms such as Myoida, Melanochlamys sp., Batillaria zonalis, Neripteron cornucopia, Phenacolepas sp., Melampus sincaporensis, Ellobium chinense, Iravadia sakaguchii, and Clistocoeloma sinensis are prolific (Ministry of the Environment, 2001). Large populations of snipe and plover live in the expanses of tidal mud flats and other terrain near the mouth of the Yahagifuru River. Here too are broad saltwater marshlands, where abundant conch endemic to such wetlands live (Ministry of the Environment, 2001).

Environment / Habitat infromation A separate window opensData source

Tidal mud flats (km2) 25.3
Moba (seaweed bed) (km2) 7.5
Coral reef coverage (km2)
Natural coast (km) 29.5
Rate of natural coast (%) 6.5
Sand bank / submerged sand bank
Other habitats Oyster reef

Species information (*) A separate window opensData source

Criteria 1
<Bivalva, Gastropoda>
Stenothyra edogawensis
Cyclina sinensis
Angustassiminea castanea
Cassidula plecotrematoides japonica
Solen strictus
Assiminea parasitologica
Corbicula japonica
<Other invertebrate>
Paranthus sociatus
Criteria 2
<Mamal>
Neophocaena phocaenoides (Fineless porpoise)
<Aves>
Sterna hirundo (Common Tern)
Sterna hirundo (Common Tern)[Br/Ne]
Apus pacificus (Pacific Swift)[Br/Ne]
Monticola solitarius (Blue Rock-thrush)[Br/Ne]
Synthliboramphus antiquus (Ancient Murrelet)
Synthliboramphus antiquus (Ancient Murrelet)[Br/Ne]
Larus crassirostris (Black-tailed Gull)
Larus crassirostris (Black-tailed Gull)[Br/Ne]
Larus schistisagus (Slaty-backed Gull)
Larus schistisagus (Slaty-backed Gull)[Br/Ne]
Calonectris leucomelas (Streaked Shearwater)
Calonectris leucomelas (Streaked Shearwater)[Br/Ne]
Larus canus (Mew Gull )
Phalacrocorax carbo (Great Cormorant)[Br/Ne]
Sterna albifrons (Little Tern)
Sterna albifrons (Little Tern)[Br/Ne]
Charadrius dubius (Little Ringed Plover)[Br/Ne]
Charadrius alexandrinus (Kentish Plover)[Br/Ne]
Larus argentatus (European Herring Gull)
Falco peregrinus (Peregrine Falcon)[Br/Ne]
Phalacrocorax pelagicus (Pelagic Cormorant)
Phalacrocorax pelagicus (Pelagic Cormorant)[Br/Ne]
Pandion haliaetus (Osprey)[Br/Ne]
Larus ridibundus (Black-headed Gull)
<Pisces>
Ammodytes personatus (Japanese sand lance)[Sp]
Trachurus japonicus (Japanese jack mackerel)[Sp]
<Cephalopoda>
Amphioctopus fangsiao (Ocellated octopus)
Octopus vulgaris (Common octopus)
Loligo bleekeri (Spear squid)
Criteria 3
<Aves>
Synthliboramphus antiquus (Ancient Murrelet)
Podiceps cristatus (Great Crested Grebe)
Sterna albifrons (Little Tern)
Histrionicus histrionicus (Harlequin Duck)
Phalacrocorax pelagicus (Pelagic Cormorant)
<Pisces>
Carcharodon carcharias
Anguilla japonica (Japanese eel)
<Insecta>
Cicindela laetescripta
Cicindela inspecularis
<Crustacea>
Chiromantes haematocheir
Helice (Helice) tridens
Clistocoeloma sinense
Macrophthalmus japonicus
<Bivalva, Gastropoda>
Ellobium chinense
Cyclina sinensis
Melampus sincaporensis
Littorina brevicula
<Other invertebrate>
Chaetopterus cautus
Paranthus sociatus
<Vascular Plants>
Suaeda malacosperma
Criteria 4
<Aves>
Calonectris leucomelas (Streaked Shearwater)
Criteria 7
<Crustacea>
Macrophthalmus japonicus
<Bivalva, Gastropoda>
Cerithidea rhizophorarum
Cerithideopsilla cingulata
Truncatella pfeifferi
Corbicula japonica
Moerella rutila
<Vascular Plants>
Zostera marina (Eel grass)
Aster tripolium (Sea aster)
Triglochin asiaticum
Euphorbia escula var. nakaii 
Suaeda malacosperma
Artemisia fukudo

* This is the species list of which meet the criteria. In that matter, this list does not include all species that inhabit the individual area.
Abbreviation in the information is as follows.
[Br/Ne] : Adjacent water of breeding area or nesting site
[Sp] : spawning area
[Ad] : species not used for analysis but add to the list because inhabit information was collected later
[Ex] : species used for analysis but considered to be possibly extinct in the EBSA region (area)
No mark : data of species distribution

 

Back to the top of this page