What's a fish native to Japan

More evidence of one eco-system and our interdependence.  Most likely, we will continue to see unusual migratory patterns and shifts in habitat as weather systems change.

What's a fish native to Japan doing in the ocean off the coast of Oregon?

Stiped knifejaw image via Oregon State University.
















A team of scientists from Oregon State University and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is studying an unusual fish captured alive in a crab pot near Port Orford this week called a striped knifejaw that is native to Japan, as well as China and Korea.

The appearance in Oregon waters of the fish (Oplegnathus fasciatus), which is sometimes called a barred knifejaw or striped beakfish, may or may not be related to the Japanese tsunami of 2011, the researchers say, and it is premature to conclude that this non-native species may be established in Oregon waters.

But its appearance and survival certainly raises questions, according to OSU’s John Chapman, an aquatic invasive species specialist at the university’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.
“Some association with Japanese tsunami debris is a strong possibility, but we cannot rule out other options, such as the fish being carried over in ballast water of a ship or an aquarium fish being released locally,” Chapman said. “But finding a second knifejaw nearly two years after the discovery of fish in a drifting Japanese boat certainly gets my attention.”

In March 2013, five striped knifejaws were found alive in a boat near Long Beach, Washington, that had drifted over from Japan. Four of the fish were euthanized, but one was taken to the Seaside Aquarium, where it is still alive and well.

OSU marine ecologist Jessica Miller examined the four euthanized knifejaws from Washington in 2013, analyzing their otoliths, or ear bones, for clues to their origin.

“The young fish of these species are known to associate with drift and may be attracted to floating marine debris,” Miller said. “Japanese tsunami marine debris continues to arrive on beaches in Oregon and Washington – and some debris from Japan washed up on the southern Oregon coast this month – so it is not inconceivable that the Port Orford fish was associated with Japanese marine debris.

“The species is also found in other parts of Asia and the northwest Hawaiian islands, so it is native to a broader range than just Japan,” she added. “At this time, there is no evidence that they are successfully reproducing in Oregon.”