2020 Volume 49 Pages 41-47
An ovigerous female of Nerocila phaiopleura Bleeker, 1857 was collected from the body surface of a Japanese sardine, Sardinops melanostictus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846) (Clupeidae), caught in Hitachi Port, Ibaraki Prefecture, central Japan. This collection extends the northern distribution limit of N. phaiopleura from Kujukuri, Chiba Prefecture, to Hitachi Port, Ibaraki Prefecture. In Japan, N. phaiopleura has so far been reported from coastal waters of the western North Pacific ranging from southern Kyushu to central Honshu, the East China Sea off Kyushu, and the Seto Inland Sea. While much remains unknown on its distribution in the southern Sea of Japan, N. phaiopleura is found from waters affected by a warm current, the Kuroshio, and its branch, the Tsushima Current. The species has not been found from subtropical waters of the Ryukyu Islands to date. Due to low water temperatures, the species is not likely to occur in subarctic waters affected by a cold current, the Oyashio, and the Kuroshio-Oyashio transition waters off northeastern Japan.
