Abstract
During the studies of Japanese pleuronectiforms, we caught two Bothid species previously unknown from Japanese waters, Grammatobothus polyophthalmus (Bleeker, 1866) from the Ryukyu Islands and Arnoglossus tapeinosoma (Bleeker, 1866) from Tosa Bay, Kochi Prefecture. The former species is widely distributed from the Indian Ocean throughout the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago to Australia and the South China Sea (Norman, 1934; Kyushin et al., 1982). The second species was known from the Persian Gulf to the South China Sea (Norman, 1934; Shen, 1966, 1983). Since our new locality records for these two species represent the northern limits of distribution and their first records from Japan, short descriptions, figures and some comments are given herein.
Counts and measurements follow Hubbs and Lagler (1949), with the addition that length of the pelvic-fin base is measured from the base of the first ray to that of the last ray. Vertebrae were counted from radiographs. Institutional abbreviations follow Leviton et al.(1985).
