Coastal Area 16201 Tottori sand dunes coast

Basic Information References

Reason(s) for selection Criteria

Characteristics References

These waters include the Tottori sand dunes and Uradome coast. Large sandy shores themselves are few in the San'in region (the Sea of Japan side), in these waters are expansive sandy shores whose natural state is well preserved. In particular, it has been reported that Stimpson's ghost crab, a species that lives on sandy shores in a highly natural state, is widely distributed on the sandy shores here (Wada, 2009). This area also includes important habitats for rare insects and spiders that live only on large-scale beach sand dunes, such as Lycosa ishikariana, Cicindela laetescripta and others (Suzuki et al., 2006; Tsurusaki et al., 2012). In addition, the coast of the sea extending in front of Iwami is home to some of the leading Sargassum beds in the central-southern Sea of Japan, which is known to be home to Sauvageaugloia ikomae and other species not seen in the central-northern Sea of Japan (Ministry of the Environment, 2001).