Distributional Range Extension of a Clupeid Fish, Sardinella melanura(Cuvier, 1829), in Southern Japan (Teleostei: Clupeifonnes)

Hiroyuki Motomura, Seishi Kimura and Yukio lwatsuki

Reprinted from Biogeography
Vo1.3, pp. l-1 00
August 29, 2001

The Biogeographical Society of Japan

Biogeography 3.
83- 7. Aug. 29.2001

Distributional Range Extension of a Clupeid Fish, Sardinella melanura(Cuvier, 1829), in Southern Japan (Teleostei: Clupeiformes)

Hiro uki Motomura' *, Seishi Kimura' and Yukio l watsuki 3' Miyazaki Univer iry, rhe United Graduate School of Agricultural Science , Kago hima
Unjver ity, 1-1 Gakuen-kibanadai-ni hi , Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan(e-mrul: a02113u @cc.miyazaki-u.ac.jp)
1Fi herie Re earch Laboratory, Mie Uni er ity, P. 0 . Box II , Wagu, Shima, Mie 517-0703, Japan
3

Divi ion of Fi sheries Science , Faculty of Agriculture, Miyazaki Uni er iry, 1-1
Gakuen-kibanadai-ni hi , Miyazaki 889-2192. Japanb t racL Two pecimens (63 - 9~ mm in tandard length) of a clupeid fi h. Sardinella me/anura (Cuvier.
1829). collected from Miyazaki. Kyushu Island . outhem Japan and 6 pecimens ( 105-124 mm in standardlength). originally collected from Tokuno-shima. Ryukyu Islands. oulhern Japan and ub equemly locatedin a mu eum collection. repre em the first reliable record of the species from Japane e wmers except. off
the Oga awara I land where it has been frequently reported. The 2 pecimens from Miyazaki represent
the northernmost record for the pecies.
Key wor ds: Clupeidae: Sardinella me/anura: di tribution: outhem Japan.

The cl upeid fi sh. Sardinella me/anura (Cu vie r.

herein in detail.

29). originally de cribed a Clupea me/anura on

Counts and mea urement generally followedof a footnote in Lacepe de ( 1803 )Hubb and Lagler ( 194 7). with orne modification(Whitehead. 1967). i di tributed in the Indo-We t

following Chan ( 1965 ) and Whitehead ( 1967 ).

the ba i

Pacific (Whitehead. 198-). Howe er. although it iStandard length i expre ed a SL. In titutiona l

known from Chichj-jima and Haha-jima. Ogasawara

code follow Leviton et a/. ( 1985). with an additional

Island (e.g. Zama and Fujita. 1977: Hayashi et a/ ..

in titutional abbre iation as follows: Di vi ion of1991 : Randall et a/.. 1997). the pecie has not been

Fi herieverified to date on the ba is of pecimen collected(M FS).

Science . Miyazaki

nivers ity. J apan

from other Japane e water (Aonuma. 2000).
Recently. 2 example

of S. m e/a nura we reSardinella m e/anura (C uvier , 1829)(English name: blacktip ard inella)(Japane e name: Oguro-iwashi )(Fig. I)co ll ected from Miyazaki. Kyu hu. outhern Japan
during a urvey of the fi h fauna of the area and 6example of the pecie . collected from Tokunoshima. Ryukyu Island . outhem Japan. were found ina mu eum collection. The pec imen are de cribed*Corresponding author:
Hiroyuki 1otomura (e-mail: a02113u@cc.miyazaki-u.ac.jp)

Material examined. Eight specimen . 63-124 mm
SL. M FS 13629. 63 mm SL. Meit s u. ango.
Mi yazaki. Ky u hu. Japan. mall et net. le 8 m
depth. 15 ov . 1995. coli. by Y. lwat uki : M FS-83-Distributional Range Extension of a Clupeid Fish. Sardinella me/anura (Cuvier. I 29). in outhern Japanango. Miyazaki.

Fig. I. Sardinella me/anura (Cu ier.
Kyu hu. outhem Japan.
ango. Miyazaki.

Color ll'hen fresh. Based on a color tran parency

Kyushu, Japan, large set net. le s 50 m depth. _I Oct.

of M FS 16449. 94 mm SL: upper ide of head and1998. coli. by H. Motomura:trunk tinged with blue. becoming

16449, 94 mm SL. Meit u.

RM-P 33569-33574. 6

ilver on lower

pecimen . I 05-124 mm SL. mouth of Akirikami

ide ; fin membrane hyaline. except tip of dor at fin

River. Tokuno- hima. Ryukyu I land . Japan. gill net.

slightly black and tip of caudal fin con picuouslleI m depth. 17-18 Aug. 199-+. coli. by T. Yo hino.

black: no dark pot at dor at fin origin.

Color in presen·ati1•e.

Description. Count and proponional measurementsof the above pecimen . expre ed a percentage ofpper ide of head andtrunk tinged with gra . becoming ilver on lower

oblong. trongly

ide : -+ faint dark tripe along longitudinal calecompre ed; abdomen with harply-keeled prepelvic

row above body midline. stripe ab ent below: tip ofand postpelvic cute . po !pelvic more

dor at fin

SL. are given in Table I.

Bodtrongly

errated than prepelvic: pelvic cute with a cending

lightly black and tipof caudal fin

conspicuou ly black: no dark pot at dor al fin origin.

arm : upper jaw rounded without di tinct medianRemarks. Sardinel/a me/anura i characterized bynotch or cleft: po terior margin of upper jaw extended
lightly beyond level of anterior margin of eye: 2having 8 pelvic fin rays, 27 to 31 (i n total) prepelvic

upramaxillae pre ent. econd ymrnetrical. paddle-and postpelvic cute , di continuou vertical tripe

haped: teeth ab ent from vomer. palatine andon the cates. no perforation po teriorly on the caleectopterygoid : 2 fie hy outgrowth on po terior( ee Munroe eta/.. 2000. fig. 16). no dark pot on themargin of gill opening: opercular smooth, \ ithout

dorsal fin origin and the tip of the caudal fin blackpine : dor at fin origin before midpoint of(Whitehead. 1985: Munroe et a/ .. 2000). Characters

body: pectoral fin well beiO\ midline of body; pelvicof the pre ent pecimen . from Miyazaki and Tokuno-fin origin slightly behind le el of dor at fin origin:hima. J a pan. agreed clo ely with tho e of S.

bonyanal fin origin behind level of po teriormo t dor at fin

me/anura de cribed by Whitehead ( 1985) and Munroe

ray tip: po teriormo t anal fin rayeta/. (2000) (see De cription. Table I and Fig. I).

lightly enlarged:

In Japane e water . S. m e/anura hacaudal fin deeply forked; vertical tripe on calebeendiscontinuou , with a wide gap at center: calefrequently reported from Chichi-jima and Haha-jima.

lacking perforation po teriorly.

Oga awara 1 land-84 -(e.g. Zama and Fujita. 1977:

Hiroyuki Motomura. Sei hi Kimura and Yukio lwatsuki
Table I. Count and measurements of specimens of Sardinella me/anura.
ex pres ed a percentages of standard length.
From Miyazaki.
Kyushu. Japan
11=2

From Tokuno- hima.
Ryukyu I land . Japan
11=6

63-94

105-124

16-17

16-18

Anal fin rays

1919-20

Pectoral fin rays

14-15

14-15

Pelvic fin rays

88

Lateral line cale

38-39

38-41

16+ 12-14=28-30

15-17 + 12-13 =27-30

40--n

51-63

Head length

24-26

23-24
26-29

Standard length (mm)CountsDor al fin ray

Prepelvic + po tpelvic = total scute
Lower gill raker
Measurements
Body depth

25-27

Snout length

7-8

7-Eye diameter

76-7

Interorbital width

65-6

Postorbital length

10-12

9-10

pper jaw length

II10

Predorsal fin length

44-48

46-48

Preanal fin length

74-79

75-77

Pelvic fin origin to anal fin origin

25-29

27-30

Dorsal fin ba e length14-15

14-15

Anal fin ba e length

15-16

14-17

17

16-17

Longe t pelvic fin ray length (2nd)

12

11-12

Longe t dorsal fin ray length (3rd)

16-19

14-16

Longe t anal fin ray length (4th)

5-8

5-6

Caudal peduncle length

10-12

10-13

Caudal peduncle depth

9-11

10

Caudal fin length

29

2+-29

Longe t pectoral fin ray length (2nd)Haya hi et a/ .. 1991: Randall et a/ .. 1997: Fig. 2).

pecimen collected from Japanese waters other than

Although the specie was reponed from lri omote-around the Ogasawara I land . those from Miyazaki

jima. Ryukyu I lands on the ba i of an underwatercon tituting the northernmo t record of the species

photograph by M. Yano (Sato. 1997: Fig. 2). no( ee Fig. 2).

specimen were collected. Accordingly. the pre ent

Whitehead ( 1985) de cribed S. me/anura as being

specimen . collected from Miyazaki. Kyu hu anddistributed in the we tern Indian Ocean (from Gulf ofTokuno- hima. Ryukyu Islands, repre ent the fir tAden to Madagascar and Mauritius. except in thereliable record

Per ian Gulf and Red Sea) and western Pacific (fromof the species on the basis of-85-

Di tributional Range E~ten ion of a Clupeid Fish. Sardinellc•melanura (Cu\ ier. I 29). in Southern Japan

1. Haha-jima
2. Chichi-jima
3. lriomote-jima
4. Tokuno-shima
5. Miyazaki

35"NPacific Ocean

ff

Ryukyu Islands

30"NOgasawara Islands

iJl'25"N130"E

140"EFig. 2. Di tribution of Sardine/fa me/anura in Japane e water . Clo ed triangle . localitie based onliterature record : open triangle. locality ba ed on an underwater phowgraph: circles. localitie
based on pecimens examined in thi tudy.
ea tern Indonesia to Samoa).

ubsequently. Munroeeta/. (2000) reported the di tribution of the pecies ineasternmost recorded range of the specie
con idered to be Tahiti (Fig. 3).

the tropical Pacific Ocean. Both reviews indicatedComparati1·e material examined. Sardinella

the ea ternmo t record of the specie a being Samoa(Fig. 3 ). although Fowler ( 192 ) reported the pecie

me/anura: M Ffrom Tahiti. Society I land . on the ba i12pecimen collected (Fig. 3). During thiof13619-13628. 10 specimen . 102-mm SL. Ambon. Indonesia:RM-P 34919-tud . 434920. 2pecimens. I 01-1 19 mm

pecimen . collected from Tahiti were examined andlndone ia:

RM-P 34922. 8 pecimen . 97-123 mm

found to be S. me/anura.

SL. Ambon. lndone ia: YCM-P 25439. 124 mm SL.

According!). the180"

L. Ambon.

150"Wo·Pacific Ocean

415"5Samoa•

TahitiFig. 3. Di tribution of Sardine/fa me/anura in the tropical Pacific Ocean (indicated by dotted region ).
based on literature record and pecimen examined in thi tudy.

-6-Hiro)uki 1otomura. Sei>hi Kimura and Yukio lwatsuki

Miyano-hama. Chichi-jima. Ogasa,, ara I land .
Japan :S M 65859. 81 mmHa)ashi. M .. Hagiwara. K. & Sato. T .

Rede cription of Sardinella me/anura from theL. Papeete. Tahiti.

Society Island : US M 327723. 3 pecimens. 82-92mm

Bonin (Oga awara) I land , Japan .

L. Port Phaeton . off Tiupi . Tahiti. Societ)

Grea t Lakes region.

Acknowledgments

19-n. Fishe of theBull. Cranbrook In l. Sci ..

(26): i-xi. 1-186.
Lacepede. B. G . E.

We are grateful toT . Y o hino (cient. Rep.

Yokosuka City Mus .. 39: 95-96. ( In Japane e.)
Hubb . C. L. & Lagler. K. F.

I land .

1991.

RM-P ) forpois ons.

providing the pecimen of Sardinel/a me/anura from
Tokuno- hima and lndone ia. and orne important

I 03.

Hi toire naturelle desol. 5 : i-lxviii. 1-803. inde , pi1-21.

Pia san. Paris.
Leviton. A. E .. Gibbs. R. H. Jr. Heal. E. & Daw on.

references. We al o thank M . Haya hi (YCM-P) for

C . E.

the loan of an example of S. me/anura from theichthyology: Part I. Standard s mbolic codes for

Oga awara I land . S. L. Jewett . L. Palmer.
Raredon. S. Smith and J . T. William (loan of example of S. me/anura from Tahiti and Y.

in herpetology andin herpetology

and ichthyology. Copeia. 1985: 802- 32.
.. Wongratana. T . &Munroe. T .

izinski. M.

2000. Clupeidae. In Carpenter. K. E. &i tance.

La tly. we thank G . S . Hard y (Thame .

Standardin titutional re ource collection. J.

M) for theMotomura ( Miy azak i. Japa n ) for her a1985.

H. (Ed ). F 0ewiem.

pecie Identification Guide for

Zealand). who read the initial manu cript and offeredfi her) Purposes-the living marine Re ource of

helpful comment . Thi

the we tern central Pacific . vol. 3: 1775-1 21.

tudy wa

upported in partby grants awarded to the fir t author by the Fuji\\ araatural Hi tory Foundation (Tokyo. Japan ). thea akawa

FAO. Rome.
Randall. J. E .. Ida. H .. Kato, K .. Pyle. R. L. & Earle.
J . L.

cientific Re earch Grant from the Japan1997. Annotated checklist of the in horecience Society (Tokyo. Japan ) and the Itofi he of the Ogasawara I land .

Foundation for the Ad va ncement of lc hth) ology

Monogr.. Tokyo. iii. 7-t 19 pis.

(Tokyo. Japan ).

atn. Sci . Mu .

1997. Clupeiforme . In Okamura. 0 . &Sato. Y.

maoka. K. (Ed ). Sea Fi he of Japan : 91-93.

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