Distribution of intertidal upogebiid shrimp (Crustacea : Decapoda : Thalassinidea) in Japan

Abstract

The distributions of six intertidal species of Upogebiidae were determined by collecting shrimp from 74 sites on tidal flats and boulder beaches in Japan, from northern Honshu (the main island of Japan) to the Ryukyu Archipelago (southwestern Japan). Upogebia major, U. issaeffi, and Austinogebia narutensis were not found in the Ryukyu Archipelago, whereas U. carinicauda and U. pugnax were collected only from the Ryukyus or warmer regions exposed to the Kuroshio Current. Upogebia yokoyai was collected all over Japan and was the most common species in this study. From the viewpoint of habitat, U. yokoyai and U. issaeffi were unique in that the former was distributed mainly on brackish tidal flats and the latter mainly on boulder beaches. The identity of the upogebiid shrimp in some reports was corrected.