Discovery of the Japan Sea specific marine brown alga, Coccophora langsdorfii (Fucales, Phaeophyceae) in Yamada Town, Iwate Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

Coccophora langsdorfii (Turner) Greville, the specialty of the Japan Sea was found in the inner part of Yamada Bay, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. This is the first record of the species from Pacific side of Honshu, Japan except area of the Tsugaru Straits. Distribution of C. langsdorfii in Yamada Town seems to correspond to the route of the Tsugaru Warm Current, and suggests that the Sanriku offshore area of Iwate Prefecture is influenced by a particular confluence of the currents. Specimens deposited in the herbaria of the Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University (SAP) and National Museum of Nature and Science (TNS), and former records of C. langsdorfii suggest that this species is widely distributed along the all of the Japan Sea coasts.