Origins and fate of floating seaweeds in East China Sea

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22255010
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 海外学術
• Research Field: General fisheries
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: KOMATSU Teruhisa 東京大学, 大気海洋研究所, 准教授 (60215390)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): AOKI Masakazu 東北大学, 大学院農学研究科, 准教授 (70251014) ; AJISAKA Tetsuro 京都大学, 大学院農学研究科, 助教 (40144349) ; ISHIDA Kenichi 東京大学, 大気海洋研究所, 助教 (40232300) ; MICHIDA Yutaka 東京大学, 大気海洋研究所, 教授 (20323628) ; UWAI Shinya 新潟大学, 大学院自然科学系研究科, 准教授 (00437500)
• Research Collaborator: SHISHIDOU Hirotoshi ; ABE Hiroshi ; TATSUKAWA Kenichi
• Project Period (FY): 2010-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 東シナ海 / 流れ藻 / アカモク / モジャコ / ホンダワラ / 数値実験 / 粒子追跡

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In East China Sea, floating seaweed rafts are very important for fisheries because they serve as spawning substrates for fishes and a habitat for juvenile fishes. We conducted research cruises in every February and/or March of 2010 to 2012 for surveying distributions of floating seaweed rafts and sampling them. The floating seaweeds consisted of only Sargassum horneri. They were distributed on the continental shelf west of the Kuroshio front. We surveyed distribution of Sargassum horneri along the coasts of East China Sea and its adjacent waters with Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese researchers and analyzed genetic differences among their localities. We studied a food chain, phytal fauna and floating durations of floating seaweeds. Particle tracking experiments using a numerical model of surface currents suggests that floating Sargassum horneri originate from the Chinese coast in East China Sea. Bottom trawl surveys found seaweed debris on the sea bottom.

Free Research Field

水産海洋学