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Offshore Surface 412 Kuroshio current, subtropical waters

Note; The offshore surface areas have many physically fluid factors such as ocean current or seasonal changes, which may effect on the spawning grounds or distribution areas of certain organisms. Therefore, it is difficult to fix certain area as EBSAs of offshore surface spatially. In addition, available data for analysis are very limited. Therefore, the EBSAs of offshore surface shows the probabilistic distribution of important area as a result of mechanical analysis using best available data at the time, so that there are problems such as that some places considered to be consecutive from the ecological features are divided. Further analysis will be required to improve when the data became available in the future, and it is necessary to review the analysis method.

Basic Information A separate window opensReferences

Area (km2) 134153

Reason(s) for selection A separate window opensCriteria

Selected due to high levels on the criteria 2, 3, 6. And selected by the MARXAN software.

Characteristics A separate window opensReferences

These extensive waters include the waters of the Kuroshio Current's subtropical zone from the Nansei Islands, where the Kuroshio Current flows north, to the waters off the coast of southern Kyushu. These waters are connected to the Coral Triangle, the most productive waters in the world, through the Kuroshio Current, and they can be described as the most biologically diverse sea in the world. The Kuroshio Current is a high-temperature,high-salinity surface layer current with few nutrients, and primary production in the waters of the open sea zone is supported mainly by microscopic phytoplankton. The subtropical zone is a spawning ground for tuna and other large fish, and it serves as a migration route for highly migratory fish species. It also is a migration route for loggerhead turtles in the northern Pacific.

Species information (*) A separate window opensData source

Criteria 2
<Mamal>
Megaptera novaeangliae (Humpback whale) [Br/Ne]
Dugong dugon (Dugong) [Br/Ne]
<Pisces>
Engraulis japonicus (Japanese anchovy) [Sp]
Scomber australasicus (Blue mackerel) [Sp]
Seriola quinqueradiata (Japanese amberjack) [Sp]
Trachurus japonicus (Japanese jack mackerel) [Sp]
Sardinops melanostictus (Japanese pilchard) [Sp]
Scomber japonicus (Chub mackerel) [Sp]
Thunnus orientalis (Pacific bluefin tuna) [Sp]
Criteria 3
<Pisces>
Rhincodon typus (Whale shark)

* 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

 

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