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Coastal Area 15409 Adjacent waters of Kujukushima Islands

Basic Information A separate window opensReferences

Relevant municipalities Saza, Sasebo, Saikai, Nagasaki Prefecture
Area (km2) 91

Reason(s) for selection A separate window opensCriteria

Selected by MARXAN software.

Characteristics A separate window opensReferences

These waters, part of the area known as the Kujukushima Islands, constitute the waters of a ria coastal zone with numerous oceanic islands. In Kosazaura in the town of Kosaza live numerous rare shellfish that inhabit sandy and muddy tidal mud flats, including Pitar sulfureum and others. This also is one of the few habitats for Pyropia tenera in Japan. Sandy river-mouth tidal mud flats are found in the town of Asago and southeastern Kosaza, where numbers of common Orient clam and Phacosoma japonicum have fallen due to overfishing but Pitar japonicus, Paphia amabilis, and Strombus marginata and other rare shellfish still are found at Nagaura. In addition, eel grass and Zostera japonica grow here. For these reasons, this zone is important as tidal mud flats near a river mouth. The tidal mud flats of the Osaki Peninsula are home to eel grass, Zostera japonica, and Halophila nipponica. Shellfish found here in large numbers include Cassidula plecotrematoides, Melamopus nuxeastaneus, Ellobium chinense, Platyvindex sp., and others. The Ainoura River's river-mouth tidal mud flats are home to common Orient clam, Phacosoma japonicum and other shellfish that inhabit tidal mud flats as well as Asian clam, Stenomelania rufescens, mudskipper, and mudflat crab. Eel grass grows naturally in the valleys at Motonojima, Koana, and Oana, and among insects, numerous Halobates japonicus species such as Halobates matsumurai, Asclepios shiranui, Halovelia septentrionalis, and others live here (Ministry of the Environment, 2001; Sasebo city, 2013). The tidal mud flats maintain their diversity, with rare crustaceans such as Uca lactea lacteal, Ilyoplax pusilla, Macrophthalmus japonicus and others and rare shellfish such as Anomalocardia squamosa, razor clam and others. The inlets of Makinoshima have the densest natural growth of eel grass in the southern Kujukushima Islands. Numerous Halobates matsumurai and Asclepios shiranui live here. Here in a narrow area is found a mixture of pebbly and sandy beaches, and the area maintains its diversity with numerous species of aquatic animals. There are very large numbers of benthic organisms, crustaceans, and rare shellfish at the Tawaragaura Peninsula (on the Kujukushima Islands side), with numerous rare plants such as Lilium speciosum, Hibiscus hamabo, eel grass, Zostera japonica, Limonium tetragonum and others. Also inhabiting these waters are Japanese horseshoe crab and others (City of Sasebo city, 2013).

Environment / Habitat infromation A separate window opensData source

Tidal mud flats (km2) 1
Moba (seaweed bed) (km2) 3.3
Coral reef coverage (km2)
Natural coast (km) 143.4
Rate of natural coast (%) 70.9
Sand bank / submerged sand bank
Other habitats

Species information (*) A separate window opensData source

Criteria 2
<Aves>
Monticola solitarius (Blue Rock-thrush)[Br/Ne]
Egretta sacra (Pacific Reef-egret)[Br/Ne]
Larus argentatus (European Herring Gull)
<Pisces>
Branchiostegus japonicus (Horsehead tilefish)[Sp]
Parapristipoma trilineatum (Chicken grunt)[Sp]
Trachurus japonicus (Japanese jack mackerel)[Sp]
Sardinops melanostictus (Japanese pilchard)[Sp]
Scomber japonicus (Chub mackerel)[Sp]
<Crustacea>
Tachypleus tridentatus (Horseshoe club)
<Cephalopoda>
Sepioteuthis lessoniana (Bigfin Reef Squid)
Loligo edulis (Swordtip squid)
Criteria 3
<Insecta>
Asclepios shiranui
Halobates matsumurai
Criteria 7
<Crustacea>
Tachypleus tridentatus (Horseshoe club)
<Vascular Plants>
Triglochin asiaticum

* 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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