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In search of the Kumamoto oyster Crassostrea sikamea (Amemiya, 1928) based on molecular markers: is the natural resource at stake?

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Abstract

A cornerstone in conserving wildlife is to resolve taxonomic uncertainties over organisms so that conservationists can define the entity that should be conserved. This is the case for two closely related Crassostrea oysters inhabiting the Ariake Sea (Kyushu, Japan) in sympatry, the kumamoto oyster C. sikamea and Pacific oyster C. gigas, where molecular markers have shed light on their taxonomic separation and species diagnosis. In the past, there was a concern that Kumamoto oysters may be at risk of extinction. However, several field surveys equipped with species-diagnosis molecular markers have provided solid evidence that this perception is incorrect. Nevertheless, previous studies have sometimes given conflicting results, throwing us into confusion about the resource status. Research on natural Kumamoto oysters that the author hopes could help to enhance our understanding of the conservation of this invaluable oyster is reviewed here.

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Notes

  1. The genus of cupped oyster was renamed from Ostrea to Crassostrea in 1955 according to a rule of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature [3].

  2. The term “Ariake-subendemic species” is used here to represent an animal showing vicariance (between the Ariake Sea and the continental coast), rather than in the sense of an animal that occurs in the Ariake Sea but is distributed to a minor degree on other Japanese seashores (cf. [38]).

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Acknowledgments

The author thank Drs. Mark D. Camara, Christopher J. Langdon, and Dennis Hedgecock for reading the earlier draft of the manuscript. The photograph of US broodstocks of Kumamoto and Pacific oysters (Fig. 2b) is provided courtesy of Drs. C. J. Langdon and Sanford Evans. Many suggestions and criticisms provided by anonymous reviewers helped to improve the manuscript. This article is a contribution from the Fisheries Research Agency of Japan (TNFRI-B115).

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  1. Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, 3-27-5 Shin-hama, Shiogama, Miyagi, 985-0001, Japan

    Masashi Sekino

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Sekino, M. In search of the Kumamoto oyster Crassostrea sikamea (Amemiya, 1928) based on molecular markers: is the natural resource at stake?. Fish Sci 75, 819–831 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-009-0100-6

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