Warm temperate region and coastal-water area in the marine bio-geography of the shallow sea system around the Japanese islands

Abstract

It has been suggested in a previous paper (1957) that, on the Pacific side of the Japanese islands, the subtropical region directly adjoins the temperate (s.s.) region without a warm temperate region between, but that warm temperate areas are found in isolated, more or less sheltered places, where the coastal water is predominant. The Inland Sea (Seto-naikai) is recognizable as a represen tative of these enclosed warm temperate areas.In contrast to the Pacific side, no such sharp boundary between the subtropical and temperate regions can be found on the Japan Sea side, where very strong ocean currents like the Kuroshio and Oyashio are lacking. The southern part of this coast is recognizable as a warm temperate region.The marine bio-geographies of the Pacific and Japan Sea sides of the Japanese islands are considered to be respectively comparable to those of the American and European coasts of the North Atlantic. The possibility is suggested that, on the American coast, the subtropical region comes into direct contact with the temperate (s.s.) region at Cape Hatteras, and that the warm temperate areas may be confined to sheltered, coastal-water areas on the coast between Cape Canaveral and Cape Cod, which has been recognized as the Transatlantic bio-geographical province.