Research groups from the Okinawa Churashima Foundation and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) have made the first recording of the goby species Larsonella pumilus in Japan. It was found in a shell at a depth of 214 meters offshore of Seragaki in Onna Village, Okinawa and was recovered using a remotely operated vehicle. Records of this species are rare. This was just the seventh case in the world, and the Okinawan specimen was found in much deeper water. This species of goby is yellow and is named after a distinctive yellow Okinawan flower called yuna, so the Japanese name yuna haze was proposed.

Authors

Nozomi Hanahara, Takuo Higashiji, Chuya Shinzato, Ryo Koyanagi & Ken Maeda (Bold letters: Staff members of Okinawa Churashima Foundation)

Title of Paper

First record of Larsonella pumilus (Teleostei: Gobiidae) from Japan, with phylogenetic placement of the genus Larsonella

Title of Journal

Zootaxa

Article link

https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4695.4.4