A new species of the processid shrimp genus Nikoides Paulson, 1875 (Decapoda: Caridea) from Japan.

A new species of the processid shrimp genus Nikoides Paulson, 1875, N. subdistalis, is described and illustrated on the basis of five specimens collected from Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, at depths of 712 m. The new species appears most similar to N.

A new species of the laomediid mud shrimp genus Naushonia Kingsley, 1897 (Decapoda: Gebiidea) from Japan.

A new species of the laomediid mud shrimp genus Naushonia Kingsley, 1897, N. kiiensis, is described and illustrated on the basis of a single male specimen from Kii Peninsula, central Japan, at a sublittoral depth of 14 m. The new species is morphologically closest to N.

Remarkably loud snaps during mouth-fighting by a sponge-dwelling worm.

Many aquatic animals, including mammals, fishes, crustaceans and insects, produce loud sounds underwater [1-6]. Soft-bodied worms would seem unlikely to produce a loud snap or pop because such brief, intense sounds normally require extreme movements and sophisticated energy storage and release mechanisms [5]. Surprisingly, we discovered a segmented marine worm that makes loud popping sounds during a highly stereotyped intraspecific agonistic behavior we call 'mouth fighting'.

Species-diverse coral communities on an artificial substrate at a tuna farm in Amami, Japan.

Tuna-farming is expanding worldwide, necessitating the monitoring/managing of its effects on the natural environment. In Japan, tuna-farming is conducted on coral reefs that have been damaged by mass-bleaching events and crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) outbreaks. This study focused on the coral community on an artificial substrate of tuna-farm to reveal the possible effects of tuna-farming on the natural environment.