Record of Anguilla bicolor pacifica from Iriomote Island, southern Japan

Abstract

Compared with the other anguillid eel species native to Japan (Anguilla japonica and A. marmorata), very little is currently known about the Japanese populations of A. bicolor pacifica. Three specimens of the latter (652.4–879.1 mm total length), collected in an irrigation channel on Iriomote Island, southern Japan, were examined, and the phylogenetic and morphological characters of the species discussed. The stomach contents of two specimens included a number of frog remains.