Coastal Area 15501 Goto Islands

Basic Information References

Reason(s) for selection Criteria

Characteristics References

These are the waters in the vicinity of the Goto Islands (including Ukujima, Ojika, and other islands). The Goto Islands are an archipelago of more than 140 islands of varying sizes, with a ria coastal geology that is rich in complex variations, including natural beaches, sea cliffs, volcanic features. It is home to a wealth of natural scenery. Ohama on northeastern Ukujima Island includes highly natural sand dunes and sandy beaches and is a treasure trove of valuable flora and fauna. It is particularly worth noting that this area includes habitat of Cicindela laetescripta, Cicindela sumatrensis, big-headed ground beetle, Schiodtella japonica and others. The shells washed ashore here also are extremely diverse. The sands on the land side of Sugehama form the only habitat in the prefecture for Pupilla cryptodon, a shellfish thought to be a continental relict, and the insect Aphanisticus congener. Sand dunes are home to Lithospermum zollingeri and Asparagus kiusianus. Cape Nagasakibana is an important feeding grounds for migrating snipe and plover, and Zoysia matrella and Messerschmidia sibirica grow at the shore (Sasebo city, 2013). Shiraragahama Bay at Miiraku on Fukue Island is a gently shelving shallow inland bay, rich in creatures of tidal mud flats such as common Orient clam (Kato, personal communication). Tsutara, Kuroshima, and Oshima islands, extending from the south of Fukue Island to its southeast, are an important habitat for reef-building coral in western Kyushu, including Acropora hyacinthus, Acropora formosa, and Acropora solitaryensis. They also are located at the northern limit of Acropora hyacinthus and Acropora Formosa habitat (Sugihara et al., 2009; Yamano et al., 2011).