An unidentified local population of dojo loach (genus Misgurnus), restricted to the upper part of the Yodo River system (Shindo area of Iga City, Mie Prefecture, central Honshu Island) and characterized as “Jindai Dojo”, is currently considered to be extinct. The historical records and morphological characteristics of the “Jindai Dojo” collection, including 11 specimens from two different sources, in the Mie Prefectural Museum were examined. The label information and associated documents indicated that all specimens had been collected by Mr. Shunko Takashima, Principal of the Reiho Junior High School, from the Shindo area in the 1950s. Principal component analyses of meristic and morphometric characters revealed that nine (seven females and two males) of the 11 specimens labeled as “Jindai Dojo” differed from the Japanese common dojo loach, M. anguillicaudatus, but closely resembled a cryptic dojo loach, recently recognized as M. sp. Type I sensu Okada et al., 2017. Moreover, seven female specimens showed significant differences from M. anguillicaudatus in branched pectoral-fin ray count, total vertebral number, position of the first pterygiophore, head length, caudal peduncle length, caudal peduncle depth at the caudal fin base, and pelvic fin length. Sexual dimorphism in M. sp. Type I, the lack of raised ridges anteriorly on the body in males, and lack of spawning scars in females were also confirmed. The remaining two specimens, inferred as “intermediate-types” (as indicated on the labels), exhibited morphological features similar to those of M. anguillicaudatus. Overall, the findings suggested that the unidentified “Jindai Dojo” population was a relictual population of M. sp. Type I, primarily found in eastern Honshu.

The holocentrid genus Ostichthys Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1829, comprising 16 valid species, is widely distributed in tropical to temperate western Atlantic and Indo-Pacific waters. To date, four species have been recorded from Japan: Ostichthys archiepiscopus (Valenciennes, 1862), Ostichthys hypsipterygion Randall, Shimizu and Yamakawa, 1982, Ostichthys japonicus (Cuvier, 1829), and Ostichthys kaianus (Günther, 1880). In July, 2003, a single specimen of Ostichthys (151.5 mm SL) collected off Iejima Island (26˚44′31″N, 127˚48′45″E), Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, was identified as Ostichthys delta Randall, Shimizu and Yamakawa, 1982, recognized by the following combination of characters: dorsal-fin spines 11; scales above lateral line to middle spinous dorsal fin base 2.5; half scale anterior to first lateral-line scale absent; dorsal profile of head nearly straight; spine on anterior end of nasal bone absent; pectoral-fin rays 16; lateral-line scales 28 ; gill rakers 8+12; 5 upper and 4 lower spiniform procurrent caudal-fin rays; last dorsal-fin spine shortest; anal fin origin beneath soft dorsal fin; deep body (depth 2.3 in standard length); short snout (length 4.6 in head length); caudal peduncle slender (depth 4.7 in head length). Ostichthys delta is distributed in the southern Indo-West Pacific, including the Comoros, western Mascarenes (Réunion), and Samoa (Tutuila Island), but has not been previously recorded from Japanese waters or the northern hemisphere. Thus, the present specimen from the Okinawa Islands represents the first record of O. delta from Japan and the northern hemisphere. The new standard Japanese name, “Churashima-ebisu,” is proposed based on the present specimen, and a revised key to the Japanese species of Ostichthys is provided.

The marine sandperch genus Parapercis Bleeker, 1863 (Pinguipedidae) is characterized by the body nearly cylindrical anteriorly and compressed posteriorly, each jaw with a single row of recurved canine-like teeth anteriorly, followed by a band of villiform teeth, the opercle with a single sharp spine, dorsal fin continuous with four or five (rarely six) spines and 19–25 soft rays, and anal fin with a single spine and 16–20 soft rays. Approximately 90 valid species have been recognized worldwide, except in the eastern Pacific, 28 having been recorded from Japanese waters to date. On 28 June 2023, a single specimen of Parapercis (99.0 mm standard length), collected from the mouth of a Red Cornetfish (Fistularia petimba Lacepède, 1803) caught by longline in 300 m depth off Amami-oshima Island, Amami Islands (Kagoshima Prefecture), Japan was subsequently identified as Parapercis moki Ho and Johnson, 2013 on the basis of the following combination of characters: very narrow interorbital space; four pairs of canine-like teeth in outer row of lower jaw; palatines each with two rows of teeth; single large spine on posteroventral corner of subopercle; dorsal fin with four spines, becoming progressively longer posteriorly; and six narrow transverse bands on body. Parapercis moki has been previously recorded only from the holotype and two additional specimens, all from southeastern Taiwan. The presently reported specimen represents the first record of P. moki from Japanese waters and northernmost record of the species, for which the new Japanese standard name “Hanezu-toragisu” is proposed.

A single specimen [150.3 mm in standard length (SL)] of the paralepidid genus Stemonosudis Harry, 1951, collected off Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture, northern Japan, was identified as Stemonosudis miscella (Ege, 1933), based on the following combination of characters: 3 saddle-like blotches on dorsum before dorsal fin origin; 10 peritoneal pigment sections; predorsal length 66.1% SL; and preanal length 78.2% SL. Although the species has previously been considered to be recorded from Japanese waters, it was revealed here that there were no reliable records of the species from inside of Japanese Exclusive Economic Zone. The present specimen therefore represents the first confirmed Japanese record and northernmost record of the species.

Champsodon Günther, 1895 is composed of 13 valid species known from the Indo-West Pacific, which are divided into the “C. atridorsalis species group” (five spp.) and the “C. vorax species group” (eight spp.) by the shape of their anterior haemal spines, nasal rosette, and premaxillary. Among the four species of Champsodon found in Japan, C. guentheri, C. longipinnis, and C. pantolepis are included in the former group and C. snyderi in the latter, respectively. Four specimens (48.3–88.7 mm standard length) collected from the Okinawa Trough, Amami-oshima Island, Hyuga-nada Sea, and Tosa Bay, southern Japan, were identified as Champsodon sagittus Nemeth, 1994. They are characterized by having normal haemal spines and premaxillary notch (“C. vorax species group”) and the following features: first spine on ventral lachrymal reaching below premaxillary; a row of six pairs of sensory papillae paralleled on dorsal surface of head from snout to interorbital; papillae on nape between posterior of orbits not arranged in an arc; pupil indented ventrally; posterior end of maxillary not beyond a vertical below posterior rim of orbit; 2 + 12–13 gill rakers on first arch; area behind chin naked or with small patch; breast scaled; abdomen and the area between pectoral- and pelvic-fin bases naked; first dorsal fin pale; and body scales sparse around transverse lateral lines. Although C. sagittus has been recorded from India, Andaman Sea, Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia, it has not been reported from Japanese waters. Thus, the present specimens represent not only the first record from Japan but also the northernmost record of the species. The new standard Japanese name, “Yajiri-wanigisu”, is proposed for C. sagittus, in referring to its characteristic body shape.