Biodiversity of Lake Biwa

Abstract

The biota of Lake Biwa has been studied since the beginning of the eighteenth century. In mid-Edo era, the Wakan Sansai Zue (illustrated Sino-Japanese encyclopedia) published in 1712 illustrated the sponge gemmules in the lake (see Sect. 2.5.1). The first issue of the Lake Biwa fauna was published in 1805 by a 'samurai' in Hikone, Y. Kobayashi, as Kogyoko (on the fishes, mollusks, and other animals in Lake Biwa) (see Sect. 2.5). Later, another samurai J. Fujii wrote the illustration of those animals with comments on morphology and ecology of respective animals as Kogyo Zusho or Kochu Sanbutsu Zhsho (illustrated freshwater animals in Lake Biwa) in the mid-1800s.