Wobbegong is the common name given to the 12 species of carpet sharks in the family Orectolobidae. They are found in shallow temperate and tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean, chiefly around Australia and Indonesia, although one species occurs as far north as Japan. The word wobbegong is believed to come from an Australian Aboriginal language, meaning "shaggy beard", referring to the growths around the mouth of the shark of the western Pacific.
Holocentridae is a family of ray-finned fish, the only family of the order Holocentriformes. The members of the subfamily Holocentrinae are typically known as squirrelfish, while the members of Myripristinae typically are known as soldierfish. In Hawaii, they are known by the Japanese name mempachi/menpachi (メンパチ) or the Hawaiian ʻūʻū.
The largehead hairtail or beltfish is a member of the cutlassfish family, Trichiuridae. This common to abundant species is found in tropical and temperate oceans throughout the world. The taxonomy is not fully resolved, and the Atlantic, East Pacific and Northwest Pacific populations are also known as Atlantic cutlassfish, Pacific cutlassfish and Japanese cutlassfish, respectively. This predatory, elongated fish supports major fisheries.
The Japanese giant salamander is a species of fully aquatic giant salamander endemic to Japan. With a length of up to 5 feet (1.5 m), it is the third-largest salamander in the world, only being surpassed by the very similar and closely related Chinese giant salamander and the South China giant salamander.
The Japanese sawshark is a species of sawshark in the family Pristiophoridae. This shark has a long, narrow rostrum. Its first dorsal fin originates behind the tips of the pectoral fins, and its caudal fin is angled almost straight in line with the body. The Japanese sawshark reaches a maximum length of up to 1.36 m.
The Japanese wobbegong is a carpet shark in the family Orectolobidae of the wobbegong family, found in the tropical western Pacific Ocean from Japan and Korea to Viet Nam and the Philippines, between latitudes 43 and 6°N. It reaches a length of 1 m. Japanese wobbegong sharks typically remain motionless during the daytime, and are not active hunters. They use camouflage and their electroreceptor pores on their dorsal area to help them sense prey nearby.
The Japanese spurdog is a dogfish, a member of the family Squalidae. It is found in the western Pacific Ocean – southeastern Japan and the East China Sea, including the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and the Arafura Sea.
The Japanese roughshark is a rare species of shark in the family Oxynotidae, known only from a handful of specimens recovered from Suruga Bay and the Enshunada Sea off Japan. It is a benthic species that occurs at a depth of 150–350 m (490–1,150 ft). This shark is caught as bycatch by bottom trawlers throughout its entire limited range, and may be threatened given the declines in other bottom deep sea species in Suruga Bay.
The Japanese catshark is a catshark of the family Scyliorhinidae, found in the northwest Pacific off Chiba Prefecture, Honshū, Japan, between 36 and 34°N. This shark has a relatively slender body, with the trunk tapering towards the head. Its snout is moderately long, bell-shaped, and broad; the preoral snout is about 7 to 8% of total its length. It has large gill slits, rather small eyes in adults, nostrils fairly broad, and a long broad, arched mouth. It is commonly taken by trawl off the type locality, and possibly used for oil, human consumption, and fishmeal or fish cakes locally.
The Japanese dormouse is a species of rodent in the family Gliridae endemic to Japan. It is the only extant species within the genus Glirulus. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. In Japanese, it is called yamane. Among dormice, it has the special ability of running at great speed upside down, suspended from branches. Its main food is fruit, insects, berries, nuts, and even flowers. It tends to inhabit arboreal nesting sites to avoid interspecific competition with the small Japanese field mouse because of their sympatric relationship.
The blotcheye soldierfish is a species of soldierfish belonging to the family Holocentridae.
Parribacus japonicus, the Japanese mitten lobster, is a species of slipper lobster. Though the common name for this lobster is the Japanese mitten lobster, it is locally called zōri-ebi (ゾウリエビ) – zōri denoting the Japanese sandal it resembles, and ebi meaning shrimp or lobster.
The Japanese lates, also known as the akame or Japanese barramundi, is a species of fish found in Japan. A bottom-dweller restricted to estuarine habitats and large rivers in the Pacific coastal western parts of the country, it is threatened by habitat destruction. As it is similar to the related barramundi, it was classified as the same species until 1984.
Apostichopus japonicus is a species of sea cucumber in the family Stichopodidae. It is found in shallow temperate waters along the coasts of south east Asia and is commonly known as the Japanese spiky sea cucumber or the Japanese sea cucumber.
Ostichthys is a genus of fish in the family Holocentridae found in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean.
The straighthead soldierfish is a soldierfish species belonging to the family Holocentridae.
The bigeye soldierfish is a soldierfish species belonging to the family Holocentridae.
The eastern buzzard or Japanese buzzard is a medium to large bird of prey that is sometimes considered a subspecies of the widespread common buzzard. Some scientists treated is as a distinct species starting in 2008, but others still treat it as either one or three subspecies. It is native to Mongolia, China, Japan and some offshore islands. At least some birds winter in Southeast Asia. It is similar to the steppe buzzard. It is carnivorous.
Gonatopsis japonicus is a species of squid from the family Gonatidae. This species is restricted to the western North Pacific in the seas around the Japanese Archipelago.
Myripristis hexagona, the doubletooth soldierfish, is a nocturnal species of soldierfish from the genus Myripristis. It is light red to yellowish in colour, and grows to a maximum length of 30 cm. It can be found in the Indo-Pacific region, from East Africa to Samoa, north to the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, and south to the Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia. However, it has not been found on low islands or atolls in the Indo-Pacific region. It is found at depths of 3–40 metres and inhabits sheltered coastal and offshore reefs, typically in turbid areas of bays or lagoons. During the day, it hides in caves or beneath ledges, while at night, it feeds on plankton. It can be found in loose aggregations, sometimes with other species of soldierfish.
