Japanese Waters Highly Rich in Sea Life: Scientists

Tokyo, Aug. 3 (Jiji Press)--Japanese waters have about 14.6 pct of
all scientifically recognized marine species, showing their richness in
biodiversity, scientists said.
Japanese waters, about 0.9 pct of the total size of seas around the
world, have 33,629 out of some 230,000 known species, ranging from bacteria
to sea mammals, according to a global marine census released through U.S.
online scientific journal PLoS One.
Japan is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of
marine biodiversity, said Dr. Katsunori Fujikura of the Japan Agency for
Marine-Earth Science and Technology, which participated in the census.
In Japanese waters, mollusks, or soft-bodied creatures like squids
and octopuses, account for the most, totaling some 8,658 species.
Ranking second are arthropods, or invertebrate creatures with
external skeletons such as crabs and lobsters. Japanese waters have 6,393
such species.
The number of species endemic in Japanese waters totals 1,872,
while foreign species amount to 39.
Japanese waters have the largest number of species among the 26 key
marine regions covered by the census.
But in terms of eukaryotic species, or nearly all except bacteria,
Australian waters exceed Japanese waters by a narrow margin.
In addition to the known species, Japanese waters have some 122,000
forms of life that are believed to exist but have not yet been
scientifically recognized, the scientists said.
Japanese waters are covered by about 50 scientists, who compiled
data accumulated since 1953.