MOE home > Nature and Parks > EBSA home > Coastal Area > 15001 Adjacent waters of Miyako Island
Relevant municipalities | Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture |
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Area (km2) | 513 |
Selected due to high levels for the criteria 2, 3, 4 and 8, and selected by MARXAN software.
These are the waters in the vicinity of Miyako Island (including Miyako Island, Ikema Island, Irabu Island, Shimoji Island, Kurima Island, and others). To the north of Ikema Island lies Yabiji Reef, an expansive coral reef in a highly natural state. The gravelly tidal mud flats in the vicinity of Ikema Island are home to Uca tetragonon. The coast and waters are distinguished by bright white sandy beaches and coral reefs. Shimajiri Inlet in northern Miyako Island is home to mangrove forests, where Kandelia obovata, black mangrove, Rhizophora mucronata, and grey mangrove grow. The Shimajiri mangrove forest is the largest on Miyako Island, and in recent years the trees have been spreading as sedimentation of earth and sand advances. Numerous useful marine animals such as mud crab, Okinawa seabream and others live here. On the east coast of Miyako Island (Cape Agarihennazaki) are Sargassum fulvellum seaweed beds, important as large-scale subtropical Sargassum beds. At Kadekari Inlet in the south is another mangrove forest where Kandelia obovata, black mangrove, and grey mangrove grow. In Yonaha Bay and environs on the west side of the island unfold tidal mud flats and seagrass and seaweed beds, where eight species of sea grass including Thalassia hemprichii, Cymodocea serrulata and others are mixed. Also to be seen here are sea grape (northern limit) and, on reef shores, Emoia atrocostata atrocostata (a reptile). Snipe and plover visit here, with high numbers of species and populations visiting during the spring and fall migrations and wintering here. At least 1% of the minimum estimated population of Pacific golden plover and at least 0.25% of the minimum estimated population of lesser sand plover, Numenius phaeopus, Eurasian curlew, and grey-tailed tattler have been recorded here. Mangrove forests of Kandelia obovata, black mangrove, and Rhizophora mucronata are found in the inlets of Irabu Island as well (Ministry of the Environment, 2001). The vicinity of these waters also includes green turtle feeding waters (Kamezaki, personal communication).
Tidal mud flats (km2) | 2.5 |
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Moba (seaweed bed) (km2) | 13.9 |
Coral reef coverage (km2) | 20.9 |
Natural coast (km) | 147.2 |
Rate of natural coast (%) | 78.6 |
Sand bank / submerged sand bank | |
Other habitats | Mangrove, submerged cave |
Criteria 1 |
<Crustacea> |
Upogebia sakaii |
Tmethypocoelis choreutes |
<Bivalva, Gastropoda> |
Cyclina sinensis |
<Octocorallia> |
Sarcophyton crassocaule |
Criteria 2 |
<Aves> |
Monticola solitarius (Blue Rock-thrush)[Br/Ne] |
Sterna sumatrana (Black-naped Tern) |
Sterna sumatrana (Black-naped Tern)[Br/Ne] |
Anous stolidus (Brown Noddy) |
Anous stolidus (Brown Noddy)[Br/Ne] |
Egretta sacra (Pacific Reef-egret)[Br/Ne] |
Chlidonias leucopterus (White-winged Tern) |
Sterna dougallii (Roseate Tern) |
Sterna dougallii (Roseate Tern)[Br/Ne] |
Sterna anaethetus (Bridled Tern) |
Sterna anaethetus (Bridled Tern)[Br/Ne] |
Criteria 3 |
<Aves> |
Sterna sumatrana (Black-naped Tern) |
Sterna dougallii (Roseate Tern) |
<Pisces> |
Hypseleotris cyprinoides (Tropical carp-gudgeon) |
<Crustacea> |
Parasesarma plicatum |
Upogebia sakaii |
Uca boninensis |
Thalassograpsus harpax |
<Bivalva, Gastropoda> |
Cyclina sinensis |
Melampus sculptus |
Stenomelania juncea |
Geloina expansa |
<Hexacorallia> |
Acanthastrea ishigakiensis |
Acropora abrolhosensis |
Acropora aculeus |
Acropora anthocercis |
Acropora aspera |
Acropora donei |
Acropora echinata |
Acropora horrida |
Acropora listeri |
Acropora microclados |
Acropora solitaryensis |
Acropora vaughani |
Acropora verweyi |
Alveopora excelsa |
Caulastrea echinulata |
Cyphastrea agassizi |
Euphyllia ancora |
Euphyllia cristata |
Galaxea astreata |
Goniopora burgosi |
Goniopora cellulosa |
Heliofungia actiniformis |
Heliopora coerulea |
Leptoria irregularis |
Leptoseris yabei |
Montipora caliculata |
Pachyseris rugosa |
Pavona cactus |
Pavona venosa |
Pectinia alcicornis |
Pectinia lactuca |
Platygyra yaeyamaensis |
Porites horizontalata |
Porites nigrescens |
Turbinaria mesenterina |
Turbinaria peltata |
Turbinaria reniformis |
Turbinaria stellulata |
<Algae> |
Sargassum polycystum |
Criteria 4 |
<Aves> |
Anous stolidus (Brown Noddy) |
Sterna anaethetus (Bridled Tern) |
<Octocorallia> |
Carijoa riisei |
Cladiella pachyclados |
Eleutherobia grayi |
Ellisella andamanensis |
Klyxum simplex |
Lobophytum crassum |
Menella praelonga |
Sarcophyton crassocaule |
Sarcophyton ehrenbergi |
Sarcophyton glaucum |
Sinularia gravis |
Sinularia leptoclados |
Sinularia lochmodes |
Sinularia mollis |
Sinularia polydactyla |
Subergorgia suberosa |
Criteria 7 |
<Bivalva, Gastropoda> |
Neritina pulligera |
Neritina turrita |
Clithon chlorostoma |
Neritina variegata |
Stenomelania juncea |
<Vascular Plants> |
Halophila ovalis |
Cymodocea rotundata |
Syringodium isoetifolium |
* 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