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MOE home > Nature and Parks > EBSA home > Coastal Area > 14105 Southern part of the Suo-nada Sea

 

Coastal Area 14105 Southern part of the Suo-nada Sea

Basic Information A separate window opensReferences

Relevant municipalities Usa, Nakatsu, Bungotakada, Oita Prefecture; Karita, Yoshitomi, Chikujo, Yukuhashi, Buzen, Fukuoka Prefecture
Area (km2) 437

Reason(s) for selection A separate window opensCriteria

Selected due to high levels for the criteria 1, 3, 5 and 7, and selected by MARXAN software.

Characteristics A separate window opensReferences

These are the waters from the tidal mud flats at the mouths of the Imagawa and Nagasa Rivers to the west through the Katsura River to Hanehame in the east. These waters have been confirmed to be habitat for Japanese eel, small-scale whiting (Oita Prefecture, 2011), Japanese horseshoe crab and others, and it is highly likely that they are used as spawning grounds for Japanese horseshoe crab. Fiddler crab live in the tidal mud flats of the area from Nagaihama to the fishing port of Nishikakuda, as do Mesochaetopterus japonicus together with their Polyonyx sinensis, along with razor clam and Chinese mactra (Ministry of the Environment, 2001). Similarly, in the tidal mud flats from the area of the mouth of the Yamakuni River to the mouth of the Katsura River the endangered species mudskipper and Taenioides crirratus and other rare species of small gobies and shellfish have been confirmed to live (Ito, 2006; Oita Prefecture, 2011; Nakatsu Waterfront Conservation Association, 2003; 2010; 2013). Bird species seen here include black-bellied plover, ruddy turnstone, dunlin, grey-tailed tattler, Numenius phaeopus and others, with relatively high numbers of species and populations visiting the Nakatsu tidal mud flats, the Usa coast, and other areas during the spring and fall migrations and wintering there (Ministry of the Environment, 2001; Nakatsu Tidal Mud Flats Snipe and Plover Research Group, 2003). This area also has been named a Marine IBA since in the average year 50-80 Saunders’ gulls either visit or winter here (BirdLife International, 2012). This also is one of the places in Japan most visited by falcated duck, approximately 2000 of which visited in 2012. It also is home to numerous endangered species of shellfish, with an abundance of bay shellfish (Neripteron cornucopia, Cerithidea largillierti, Cerithidea ornata, Euspira fortunei, Ellobium chinense, pen shell, Mediterranean mussel, Serratina capsoides and others) (Yamashita, 2003; Ministry of the Environment, 2001). Numerous Triglochin maritimum, Zostera japonica, Limonium tetragonum, Artemisia fukudo and other plants have been confirmed here as well.

Environment / Habitat infromation A separate window opensData source

Tidal mud flats (km2) 55
Moba (seaweed bed) (km2) 25.4
Coral reef coverage (km2)
Natural coast (km) 10.2
Rate of natural coast (%) 7.4
Sand bank / submerged sand bank
Other habitats

Species information (*) A separate window opensData source

Criteria 1
<Crustacea>
Cleistostoma dilatatum
Uca arcuata
<Bivalva, Gastropoda>
Cyclina sinensis
Angustassiminea castanea
Cerithidea largillierti
Cerithidea ornata
Platevindex sp.
Meretrix lusoria
Solen strictus
Assiminea parasitologica
Corbicula japonica
<Vascular Plants>
Suaeda japonica
Criteria 2
<Mamal>
Neophocaena phocaenoides (Fineless porpoise)
<Aves>
Sterna albifrons (Little Tern)
Sterna albifrons (Little Tern)[Br/Ne]
Charadrius dubius (Little Ringed Plover)[Br/Ne]
<Pisces>
Ammodytes personatus (Japanese sand lance)[Sp]
Engraulis japonicus (Japanese anchovy)[Sp]
Takifugu rubripes (Japanese pufferfish)[Sp]
Pleuronectes yokohamae (Marbled flounder)[Sp]
<Crustacea>
Tachypleus tridentatus (Horseshoe club)
Criteria 3
<Aves>
Sterna albifrons (Little Tern)
<Pisces>
Anguilla japonica (Japanese eel)
<Crustacea>
Chiromantes haematocheir
Cleistostoma dilatatum
Deiratonotus cristatus
Clistocoeloma sinense
Parasesarma plicatum
Uca arcuata
Ilyoplax pusilla
Uca lactea
Sesarmops intermedium
Polyonyx sinensis
Macrophthalmus japonicus
<Bivalva, Gastropoda>
Serratina diaphana
Ellobium chinense
Cyclina sinensis
Cerithideopsilla djadjariensis
Melampus sincaporensis
Laemodonta siamensis
Cerithidea largillierti
Laternula impura
Laguncula pulchella
Cerithidea ornata
Platevindex sp.
Littorina brevicula
Auriculastra duplicata
Glauconome angulata
Meretrix lusoria
Fairbankia sakaguchii
<Other invertebrate>
Nectoneanthes uchiwa
Chaetopterus cautus
Travisia japonica
Mesochaetopterus japonicus
<Vascular Plants>
Suaeda japonica
Suaeda malacosperma
Criteria 7
<Pisces>
Luciogobius guttatus (Flat-headed goby)
<Crustacea>
Macrophthalmus abbreviatus
Tachypleus tridentatus (Horseshoe club)
Uca arcuata
Ocypode stimpsoni
Uca lactea
Macrophthalmus japonicus
Moerella rutila
<Bivalva, Gastropoda>
Serratina diaphana
Umbonium moniliferum
Cerithidea largillierti
Cerithidea ornata
Meretrix lusoria
Neripteron sp. 
Cerithidea rhizophorarum
Cerithideopsilla cingulata
Corbicula japonica
<Vascular Plants>
Aster tripolium (Sea aster)
Suaeda japonica
Triglochin asiaticum
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

 

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