MOE home > Nature and Parks > EBSA home > Coastal Area > 16301 Wakasa Bay
Relevant municipalities | Ine, Miyazu, Kyotango, Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture; Ooi, Echizen, Takahama, Wakasa, Obama, Tsuruga, Minamiechizen, Mihama, Fukui, Fukui Prefecture |
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Area (km2) | 1757 |
Selected due to high levels for the criteria 2, 4 and 7, and selected by MARXAN software.
These are the waters up to 50 m deep from Cape Kyogamisaki on the Tango Peninsula to Cape Echizen in Wakasa Bay, including Tsuruga Bay. The waters of the coast from Cape Kyogamisaki on the Tango Peninsula to Wakasa Bay feature continuous expansive seaweed beds of eel grass and Zostera caespitosa. While Wakasa Bay, along with Toyama Bay, is one of largest bays on the Sea of Japan side, it differs from Toyama Bay in being a shallow bay, and here expansive seaweed beds centered on Sargassum fulvellum species have developed (approx. 2000 ha). This also is the northern limit of natural Eisenia bicyclis in the Sea of Japan (Ministry of the Environment, 2001). In addition, diverse creatures including sea urchin, abalone, turban shell and others live here, a highly productive area that serves as both spawning grounds and habitat for such creatures (Fukui Prefecture, 2005). It also has been reported that the sandy sea floors and sand and mud areas are rich in benthos, and that they form spawning grounds for numerous fish species including Japanese pufferfish, willowy flounder, red seabream, bastard halibut and others (Uehara et al., 2012; Hayashi, 1985; Izeki et al., 2013; Hayashi and Hamanaka, 1979; Shibata et al., 2006). These waters also include a Japanese murrelet (an IUCN endangered species) breeding colony (BirdLife International, 2012).
Tidal mud flats (km2) | |
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Moba (seaweed bed) (km2) | 68 |
Coral reef coverage (km2) | |
Natural coast (km) | 526.5 |
Rate of natural coast (%) | 54.7 |
Sand bank / submerged sand bank | |
Other habitats |
Criteria 1 |
<Pisces> |
Cottus kazika (Fourspine sculpin) |
<Bivalva, Gastropoda> |
Corbicula japonica |
Criteria 2 |
<Aves> |
Apus pacificus (Pacific Swift)[Br/Ne] |
Monticola solitarius (Blue Rock-thrush)[Br/Ne] |
Phalacrocorax capillatus (Japanese Cormorant) |
Phalacrocorax capillatus (Japanese Cormorant)[Br/Ne] |
Larus crassirostris (Black-tailed Gull) |
Larus crassirostris (Black-tailed Gull)[Br/Ne] |
Phalacrocorax carbo (Great Cormorant)[Br/Ne] |
Egretta sacra (Pacific Reef-egret)[Br/Ne] |
Falco peregrinus (Peregrine Falcon)[Br/Ne] |
Pandion haliaetus (Osprey)[Br/Ne] |
<Pisces> |
Branchiostegus japonicus (Horsehead tilefish)[Sp] |
Engraulis japonicus (Japanese anchovy)[Sp] |
Hyporhamphus sajori (Japanese halfbeak)[Sp] |
Trichiurus japonicus (Largehead hairtail)[Sp] |
Takifugu rubripes (Japanese pufferfish)[Sp] |
Paralichthys olivaceus (Bastard halibut)[Sp] |
Seriola quinqueradiata (Japanese amberjack)[Sp] |
Trachurus japonicus (Japanese jack mackerel)[Sp] |
Sardinops melanostictus (Japanese pilchard)[Sp] |
Scomber japonicus (Chub mackerel)[Sp] |
Pagrus major (Red seabream)[Sp] |
Tanakius kitaharae (Willowy flounder)[Sp] |
<Cephalopoda> |
Sepioteuthis lessoniana (Bigfin Reef Squid) |
Amphioctopus fangsiao (Ocellated octopus) |
Todarodes pacificus (Japanese flying squid) |
Octopus vulgaris (Common octopus) |
Loligo bleekeri (Spear squid) |
Criteria 3 |
<Pisces> |
Cottus kazika (Fourspine sculpin) |
Gymnogobius scrobiculatus |
Cottus pollux (Japanese fluvial sculpin ) |
<Insecta> |
Cicindela laetescripta |
Criteria 7 |
<Pisces> |
Lethenteron japonicum (Japanese lamprey) |
<Bivalva, Gastropoda> |
Blanfordia japonica |
Corbicula japonica |
<Vascular Plants> |
Carex rugulosa |
Criteria 8 |
<Natural Monuments> |
Nesting site of Streaked Shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas) <oomizunagidori hansyoku-chi (in Japanese)> |
* 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