Species composition and distribution of bivalves in bathyal and abyssal depths of the Sea of Japan

Abstract

Twenty-six bivalve species collected by four Russian (1972, 1976, 1985, 2005) and Russian–German (2010) expeditions in the bathyal and abyssal depths of the Sea of Japan (465–3435m) are listed with the material examined and illustrated. Taxonomic decisions herein: Robaia habei Scarlato, 1981 is synonymized with Nuculana (Robaia) robai (Kuroda, 1929); following Scarlato (1981) and Coan et al. (2000)Dacrydium nipponicum Okutani, 1975 and Dacrydium minimum Okutani and Izumidate, 1992 are synonymized with Dacrydium vitreum (Möller, 1842); Maorithyas yamatotaensis Okutani and Izumidate, 1992 is synonymized with Adontorhina cyclia Berry, 1947; Axinopsida rubiginosa Okutani and Izumidate, 1992 is synonymized with Mendicula ferruginosa (Forbes, 1844); Cardiomya lindbergi batialis Scarlato, 1972 is synonymized with Cardiomya tosaensis (Kuroda, 1948); Cuspidaria sadoensis Okutani and Ito, 1983 is synonymized with Cuspidaria ascoldica Scarlato, 1972; Cyclocardia rjabininae (Scarlato, 1955) recognized as valid and distinct from Cyclocardia ovata (Rjabinina, 1952). The deep-water bivalve fauna of the Sea of Japan is characterized by an impoverished shelf fauna and consists of eurybathic species that extend from the shelf to the bathyal and abyssal zones. Most of them have a wide geographic distribution and inhabit cold water regions of the Northern Atlantic, Northern Pacific, and Arctic Ocean. Only five species are endemic to the Sea of Japan. With increase in depth, the species richness of bivalves decreases. In the depth range from 200 to 1600m, all species (26) found in the deep Sea of Japan were recorded, while only 10 species were recorded in the lower bathyal slope (1700–3000m). At depths below 3000m, only D. vitreum, Delectopecten vancouverensis (Whiteaves, 1893), and Thyasira (Parathyasira) sp. were found. The lack of typical abyssal species of bivalves in the deep Sea of Japan is probably connected with the isolation of this body of water from the Pacific abyssal depths.