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Offshore Surface 413 Southwest Kyushu, Spiral mass waters

Note; The offshore surface areas have many physically fluid factors such as ocean current or seasonal changes, which may effect on the spawning grounds or distribution areas of certain organisms. Therefore, it is difficult to fix certain area as EBSAs of offshore surface spatially. In addition, available data for analysis are very limited. Therefore, the EBSAs of offshore surface shows the probabilistic distribution of important area as a result of mechanical analysis using best available data at the time, so that there are problems such as that some places considered to be consecutive from the ecological features are divided. Further analysis will be required to improve when the data became available in the future, and it is necessary to review the analysis method.

Basic Information A separate window opensReferences

Area (km2) 7686

Reason(s) for selection A separate window opensCriteria

Selected by MARXAN software

Characteristics A separate window opensReferences

These waters are spawning and nursery waters for numerous species of pelagic fish (yellowtail, saurel, mackerel, and others) and for winter schools of Japanese flying squid, which migrate north along the warm Tsushima Current and the northern Pacific Kuroshio Current. In the upper layer in the area of the continental slope, a mixed surface layer is formed by cold waters from the coast of mainland China and the Kuroshio Current as an eddy that flows counterclockwise along the Kyushu coast. Part of this flows into the Sea of Japan as the warm Tsushima Current.

Species information (*) A separate window opensData source

Criteria 2
<Pisces>
Engraulis japonicus (Japanese anchovy) [Sp]
Scomber australasicus (Blue mackerel) [Sp]
Trichiurus japonicus (Largehead hairtail) [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]
<Cephalopoda>
Todarodes pacificus (Japanese flying squid) [Sp]

* 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

 

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