Revising the distribution of a threatened goby, Apocryptodon punctatus (Perciformes, Oxudercidae), in Japan with the discovery of an isolated population

Abstract

Five specimens of a threatened goby, Apocryptodon punctatus (21.2-40.1 mm in standard length), were collected at a mudflat site of Kushima City, Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu, southern Japan over two seasons, autumn (September 2015) and spring (April 2016). A review of distributional records of A. punctatus revealed that this population represents the southernmost record of the species in Japanese waters, and is isolated ca. 200 km south-southwest from the nearest point of the main range of the species along the Pacific coast of Japan. Publicising this population will help conserve it and its vulnerable habitat.