Mesotardigrada is one of three classes of tardigrades, consisting of a single species, Thermozodium esakii. The animal reportedly has six claws of equal length at each foot. This species was described in 1937 by German zoologist Gilbert Rahm from a hot spring near Nagasaki, Japan. The inability of taxonomists to replicate Rahm's finding has cast doubt on the accuracy of the description, making T. esakii, and by extension the entire class Mesotardigrada, a taxon inquirendum.
Megascolecidae is a taxonomic family of earthworms native to Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and North America. All species of the Megascolecidae belong to the Clitellata class. The Megascolecidae comprise a large family of earthworms and they can grow up to 2 meters in length. The intercontinental distribution of Megascolecidae species favours the continental drift theory.
Cockroaches are insects belonging to the order Blattaria. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known as pests.
The pharaoh cuttlefish is a large cuttlefish species, growing to 42 cm in mantle length and 5 kg in weight. It is also known as seiche pharaon.
Turritopsis dohrnii, also known as the immortal jellyfish, is a species of small, biologically immortal jellyfish found worldwide in temperate to tropic waters. It is one of the few known cases of animals capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary individual. Others include the jellyfish Laodicea undulata and species of the genus Aurelia.
The Japanese wolf, also known as the Honshū wolf, is an extinct subspecies of the gray wolf that was once endemic to the islands of Honshū, Shikoku and Kyūshū in the Japanese archipelago.
The Japanese stream toad, also known as the Honshū toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It was first described by Masafumi Matsui in 1976 during research with Kyoto University as a "moderate to large-sized toad" with a "peculiar color pattern" and "stream-dwelling habits."
The black wood pigeon or Japanese wood pigeon is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in East Asia along shorelines of the Pacific's Korea Strait, Philippine Sea and East China Sea. It is believed to be the largest representative of the genus, Columba, and has a weight of around 550 grams (1.2 lb) and an overall length of 43 cm (17 in). Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. The species is in decline owing to habitat loss, habitat degradation, deforestation and hunting. This wood pigeon is endemic to the laurel forest habitat.
Pristionchus is a genus of nematodes (roundworms) in the family Diplogastridae that currently includes more than 50 described species. They are known mainly as non-parasitic associates of insects, especially beetles, while others have been reported from soil, organic matter, or rotting wood. The genus includes P. pacificus, a satellite model organism to the well-studied nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.
Daphnephila truncicola is a species of gall midges first associated with stem galls on Lauraceae species, particularly Machilus thunbergii in Taiwan. Based on analysis on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, it has been suggested that in this genus, the stem-galling habit is a more ancestral state as opposed to the leaf-galling habit. This genus appears to have originated tropically and dispersed to Japan through Taiwan.
Daphnephila ornithocephala is a species of gall midge first associated with leaf galls on Lauraceae species, particularly Machilus thunbergii in Taiwan. Based on analysis on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, it has been suggested that in this genus, the stem-galling habit is a more ancestral state as opposed to the leaf-galling habit. This genus appears to have originated tropically and dispersed to Japan through Taiwan.
Daphnephila stenocalia is a species of gall midges first associated with leaf galls on Lauraceae species, particularly Machilus thunbergii in Taiwan. Based on analysis on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, it has been suggested that in this genus, the stem-galling habit is a more ancestral state as opposed to the leaf-galling habit. This genus appears to have originated tropically and dispersed to Japan through Taiwan.
Eucorydia is a genus of cockroaches. Species are found in Asia. They are characterized by a metallic greenish-bluish pronotum and sometimes orange markings on the tegmina and/or abdomen.
Arrup is a genus of centipedes in the family Mecistocephalidae, native to Europe and Asia as far as Japan. These centipedes range from 1 cm to 5 cm in length. All species in this genus have 41 leg-bearing segments. Most are soil-dwellers but Arrup akiyoshiensis is a troglobiont.
The Bonin greenfinch, also known as the Ogasawara greenfinch, is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae that is endemic to the Ogasawara Islands of Japan, where it is found on the Bonin Islands and Volcano Islands. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the grey-capped greenfinch and some authorities consider it as such, but a 2020 analysis found it likely to represent a distinct species that diverged from C. sinica about 1.06 million years ago, and the International Ornithological Congress now recognizes it as such, making it the eleventh endemic species in Japan. There are fewer than 400 individuals in the population and it is considered critically endangered by the Japanese government, necessitating protection. According to the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, as of December 2021, the Ogaswara greenfinch is Japan's most endangered bird.
The Okada's five-lined skink or Far Eastern skink is a species of lizard which is endemic to Japan.
Amami-Ōshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, northern part of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island (奄美大島、徳之島、沖縄島北部及び西表島) is a serial UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of five component parts on four Japanese islands in the Ryukyu Chain of the Nansei Islands. The site was selected in terms of biodiversity for having a diverse ecosystem of plant and animal species that are unique to the region.
Wikstroemia pseudoretusa is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae that is endemic to the Bonin Islands, Tōkyō Metropolis, Japan.
Scolopendra alcyona, known in Japanese as 琉神大百足 and in English as the Halcyon giant centipede, is a species of amphibious centipede found in the Ryukyu Archipelago of Japan and Taiwan. It is the third amphibious member of the genus Scolopendra discovered so far, and the largest species of centipede in Japan, as well as the first new centipede species discovered in Japan for 143 years.
Eucorydia miyakoensis is a species of cockroach first discovered on Miyako Island, in Japan's Ryukyu Archipelago, in 2021. It is found exclusively in the forests of Miyako Island, where it lives in the forest floor's leaf litter and humus.
