![]() An illustration of a russet sparrow pair from the Fauna Japonica | |
Publication date | 1833 |
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Fauna Japonica is a series of monographs on the zoology of Japan. [1] It was the first book written in a European language (French) on the Japanese fauna, [2] and published serially in five volumes between 1833 and 1850. [3]
The full title is Fauna Japonica sive Descriptio animalium, quae in itinere per Japoniam, jussu et auspiciis superiorum, qui summum in India Batava imperium tenent, suscepto, annis 1825 - 1830 collegit, notis, observationibus et adumbrationibus illustravit Ph. Fr. de Siebold. Conjunctis studiis C. J. Temminck et H. Schlegel pro vertebratis atque W. de Haan pro invertebratis elaborata.
Based on the collections made by Philipp Franz von Siebold (who edited the text) and his successor Heinrich Bürger in Japan, Fauna Japonica's vertebrate volumes were authored by the Leyden Museum naturalists Coenraad Jacob Temminck and Hermann Schlegel. Wilhem de Haan, also at the Leyden museum wrote the invertebrate volumes assisted by the Japanese artist naturalists Keiga Kawahara, Kurimoto Masayoshi and others. The volumes were a rare chance for European naturalists to learn about the wildlife in isolationist Japan. [3]
Volume | Title |
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I | Crustacea |
II | Pisces |
I I | Reptilia |
IV | Aves |
V | Mamalia |
The 5 volumes that make up Fauna Japonica were published by P. F. von Siebold and Lugduni Batavorum between 1833 and 1850. Originally intended to include all Japanese fauna, the published volumes pertain to Vertebrates and Crustacea only. Though a lot of the content was based on his own collections of specimen, von Siebold was the editor and publisher, not the writer of Fauna Japonica. C. J. Temminck and H. Schlegel authored the Vertebrata volumes, for which von Siebold did write an introduction, and W. de Haan wrote the volume on the Crustacea. While an 1849 letter between Temminck, then director of the Leiden Museum, and the Netherlands Ministry of Internal Affairs, indicates that J. A. Herklots studied the other invertebrates in von Siebold's collection, no volume of his was published in this series. [4]
The publication of the each volume was done in the form of several fascicles called "Decades" over many years. This process poses many problems for modern scientists trying to keep track of the nomenclature of Japanese wildlife, because both text and plates often introduced nomenclature and described new taxa with inconsistent priority. For example, the volume devoted to bird, "Aves," was published in 12 livraisons ("deliveries" in French). The problem is or special concern for de Haan's Crustacea volume, in which many new genera and species were described. The problem arises because of uncertain dating on each component of these volumes. [5] For a sense of how widely dispersed in time the publication of even a single volume can be, the following table records the different dates of publication for the different "Decades" of the first volume of Fauna Japonica, Crustacea.
Deca | Publication Year |
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I | 1833 |
II | 1835 |
III | 1837 |
IV | 1839 |
V | 1841 |
Fauna Japonica was considered important for its comprehensiveness, specifically of relevance to carcinologists. The Crustacea volume especially is consulted by those researching Decapods and Stomatopods. The work was influential on Philipp Franz von Siebold's reputation as a scientist in Europe and Japan. Numerous reprints and facsimiles have been issued since, some including unpublished artwork by collaborator Keiga Kawahara. Von Siebold's collection is now housed at the Horus Botanicus Leiden, the botanical garden in Leiden.[ citation needed ]
Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold was a German physician, botanist and traveller. He achieved prominence by his studies of Japanese flora and fauna and the introduction of Western medicine in Japan. He was the father of the first female Japanese doctor educated in Western medicine, Kusumoto Ine.
Coenraad Jacob Temminck was a Dutch patrician, zoologist and museum director.
Hermann Schlegel was a German ornithologist, herpetologist and ichthyologist.
Wilhem de Haan was a Dutch zoologist. He specialised in the study of insects and crustaceans, and was the first keeper of invertebrates at the Rijksmuseum in Leiden, now Naturalis. He was forced to retire in 1846, when he was partially paralysed by a spinal disease. He was responsible for the invertebrate volume of Siebold's Fauna Japonica, which was published in 1833, and introduced the western world for the first time to Japanese wildlife. He named a great many new taxa, and several taxa are named in his honour.
The warbling white-eye is a small passerine bird in the white-eye family. The specific epithet is occasionally written japonica, but this is incorrect due to the gender of the genus. Its native range includes much of East Asia, including the Russian Far East, Japan, Indonesia, Korea, and the Philippines. It has been intentionally introduced to other parts of the world as a pet and as pest control, with mixed results. As one of the native species of the Japanese islands, it has been depicted in Japanese art on numerous occasions, and historically was kept as a cage bird.
The varied tit is a perching bird from the tit family, Paridae. It occurs in the eastern Palearctic in Japan, Korea, and locally in northeastern China and extreme southeastern Russia.
The Japanese quail, also known as the coturnix quail, is a species of Old World quail found in East Asia. First considered a subspecies of the common quail, it is now considered as a separate species. The Japanese quail has played an active role in the lives of humanity since the 12th century, and continues to play major roles in industry and scientific research. Where it is found, the species is abundant across most of its range. Currently, there are a few true breeding mutations of the Japanese quail. The varieties currently found in the United States include Pharaoh, Italian, Manchurian, Tibetan, Rosetta, along with the following mutations: sex-linked brown, fee, roux, silver, andalusian, blue/blau, white winged pied, progressive pied, albino, calico, sparkly, as well as non-color mutations such as celadon.
Heinrich Bürger was a German physicist, biologist and botanist employed by the Dutch government, and an entrepreneur. He was important for the study of Japanese fauna and flora.
The Japanese pond turtle, also called commonly the Japanese pond terrapin and the Japanese pond tortoise, is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae endemic to Japan. Its Japanese name is nihon ishigame, Japanese stone turtle. Its population has decreased somewhat due to habitat loss, but it is not yet considered a threatened species.
The Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie was a museum on the Rapenburg in Leiden, the Netherlands. It was founded in 1820 by Royal Decree from a merger of several existing collections. This happened on the initiative of Coenraad Jacob Temminck, who saw the museum primarily as a research institute for the University of Leiden. The total collection was already quite large at the time, and continued to grow from foreign expeditions and by obtaining private collections from inheritances. The location is currently used by the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden.
Kurimoto Masayoshi was a Japanese naturalist, zoologist and entomologist.
Paralomis histrix is a species of king crab, family Lithodidae. It lives at a depth of 180–400 m (590–1,310 ft) in Tokyo Bay, Enshunada and through to Kyūshū. It has few predators because of its size and spiky carapace. It is sometimes kept in public aquariums and is occasionally referred to as the porcupine crab, a name otherwise used for Neolithodes grimaldii.
Helice tridens is a species of crab which lives on mudflats around the coasts of Japan and the Korean Peninsula.
The Japanese sleeper ray is a species of electric ray in the family Narkidae. It is common in the inshore and offshore waters of the northwestern Pacific Ocean from southern Japan to southern China. Growing up to 40 cm (16 in) long, the Japanese sleeper ray has a nearly circular pectoral fin disc colored reddish to chocolate brown above, sometimes with darker or lighter spots, and lighter brown below. The spiracles behind its small eyes have raised, smooth rims. Its short and muscular tail bears a single dorsal fin positioned aft of the rounded pelvic fins, and terminates in a large caudal fin.
Flora Japonica is a Flora written in Leyden by Bavarian botanist and traveler Philipp Franz von Siebold in collaboration with fellow Bavarian Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini. The work, written in Latin, carries the full title of Flora Japonica; sive, Plantae Quas in Imperio Japonico Collegit, Descripsit, ex Parte in Ipsis Locis Pingendas Curavit..
Kawahara Keiga was a late Edo period Japanese painter of plants, fishes, birds, reptiles, crustaceans, social scenes, landscapes and portraits at the Dutch Factory of Dejima, and at Edo, Kyoto and Nagasaki. His works can be found in museums in Japan and in the Netherlands, among others.
Hendrik Severinus Pel was a Dutch zoologist and colonial administrator on the Dutch Gold Coast.
Alpheus digitalis is a species of pistol shrimp in the family Alpheidae. The species was first discovered after a taxonomic study of a snapping shrimp from the genus Alpheus from Japan and the Gulf of Thailand, of which, it was found that two species was confounded under A.digitalis, which was originally described based on a single specimen possessing abnormal chelipeds.
Trichia dromiaeformis is a crustacean that lives in the waters of the western pacific, both the northern and southern hemisphere. It was described as Zalasius by Mary J. Rathbun in 1897, and this name is still sometimes used. It was first described by De Haan in 1839. It is of the genus Trichia, and family Xanthidae. They are extremely camouflaged and live in sandy, muddy substrate. It grows shaggy hair on its dorsal side and the outside of its legs that resembles algae.