2021 Volume 19 Pages 13-26
Phenomenon of stranding marine organism has usually occurred in Japan, mainly caused by seasonal wind in winter or typhoon in summer and fall. Twenty-one species belonging to four families (Moringuidae, Muraenidae, Ophichthidae and Congridae) of Anguilliformes were confirmed as fresh stranded specimens from Ryukyu Islands, southern Japan in January 2016. It is strongly suggested that fishes were in a state of apparent death or died in the extremely low water temperature cooled by a serious cold wave which covered Ryukyu Islands. In the series of the stranded specimens, one specimen of Cirrhimuraena playfairii (Günther, 1870) and four specimens of Yirrkala misolensis (Günther, 1872) were included; they represent the first records of these two species from Japanese waters.
