Coastal Area 15302 Amakusa, southern Yatsushiro Sea

Basic Information References

Reason(s) for selection Criteria

Characteristics References

These are the waters in the vicinity of the southern Yatsushiro Sea and the Amakusa Islands. Off the southern Shimabara Peninsula unfold the Ariake Sea's largest eel grass beds. The Nagaura tidal mud flats off the coast in the vicinity of Amakusa and Oyano Island are Japan's largest Uca lactea lacteal habitat. Myokenura in the Amakusa Sea is a diving spot where numerous sea urchin, crab, and other marine creatures are found (Henmi, personal communication). Off the coast of the sea extending in front of Tomioka in the town of Reihoku is an outer belt of Sargassum patens and Sargassum horneri surrounding Sargassum hemiphyllum and Sargassum piluliferum. Off the coast in the vicinity of Tsuji Island in the Hayasakiseto Strait are seagrass and seaweed beds rich in biodiversity, with a mixture of eel grass, sargassum, Ecklonia cava and Ecklonia kurome beds and others. At Tsuji Island more than 10 species of Sargassum fulvellum seaweed grow, but these waters are dominated by Myagropsis myagroides, Sargassum horneri, Sargassum patens, Sargassum macrocarpum and others (Ministry of the Environment, 2001). The sandy tidal mud flats of Hino Island are home to Paracondylactis hertwigi, Leptocardia, Lingula anatina, and others (Henmi, 2005), while Ellobium chinense and others live at Goshoura and Makishima Islands. On the west side of Shimojima Island is a natural beach where loggerhead turtles spawn, as well as a green turtle feeding ground (Henmi, personal communication). Katashima, Oshima, and Kuwashima Islands southwest of Amakusa Shimojima are highly diverse in species of coral, and there are important habitats in western Kyushu for the reef-building coral Acropora hyacinthus and Acropora solitaryensis (Ministry of the Environment, 2001; Nojima, 2004). The waters to the east of Amakusa Shimojima are feeding grounds for green turtles (Kamezaki, personal communication). At Cape Nagasakibana on southern Nagashima Island are waters high in biodiversity, with a mixture of eel grass, Sargassum beds, and others as well as wakame. The seaweed beds off the coast of the city of Akune include expansive Sargassum beds large in surface area, including subtropical Sargassum fulvellum species (Ministry of the Environment, 2001).