Genome assembly catalog for species in the Japanese Red List: unlocking endangered biodiversity through genomic inventory.

Improvements in DNA sequencing technology are allowing the dramatic increase of whole genome data for a wide variety of species. Such genome sequence data can assist the monitoring of intraspecific genetic diversity, but is often lacking for threatened species. In this project, we focused on the national Red List, a catalog of extinct and threatened species, issued by the Japanese government. We combined the data included in it with the record of genome assembly in NCBI and tabulated the assembly availability of the species in the list. The combined data shows a low percentage (2.1%) of the availability of whole genome sequence data for the taxa ranked on the Japanese Red List as well as a strong bias towards mammals and birds in Animalia and vascular plants in Plantae. Our data presentation highlights potential systematic limitations in genome sequencing (e.g., budget for sequencing large genomes of amphibians) and instructs future policies including which taxon needs more effort for genome sequencing. The resultant tables are available in the original website https://treethinkers.nig.ac.jp/redlist/ and are regularly updated.

A Taxonomic List of Sea Spiders (Arthropoda, Pycnogonida) from Japanese Waters.

A literature-based list of sea spiders (pycnogonids) recorded in Japanese waters since 1891 is provided. The list includes a comprehensive collection of sampling records with geographical and bathymetric data. The present list reveals that 171 species of pycnogonids in 34 genera and 11 families have been recorded in Japanese waters. From the last comprehensive counting in 1991, 17 species have been added to the list of Japanese pycnogonid fauna over the past 30 years. The present species number nearly reaches the previously estimated species number (173 spp. in 2010). However, more species are expected in further collections from abyssal and even shallow waters.

The genus Panzeria Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Tachinidae) from Japan.

Japanese species of Panzeria Robineau-Desvoidy in the sense of Wood and Cerretti are revised. Eighteen species are recorded from Japan, five of which are described as new and illustrated: P. atriventris sp. nov., P. bisetosa sp. nov., P. japonica sp. nov., P. meridionalis sp. nov., and P. rufitibialis sp. nov. Panzeria tuberculata (Zimin) is removed from synonymy with P. emdeni (Mesnil) and is revived as a valid species, comb. nov. Panzeria mimetes (Zimin) is removed from the Japanese fauna. The male and female terminalia of 16 species are illustrated and a key to 18 species is provided. The new name Panzeria chaoi nom. nov. is proposed for Eurythia tuberculata Chao Shi, 1981, because P. tuberculata (Zimin) is recognized as valid.

New records of six deep-sea caridean shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda) from the Ryukyu Islands and its adjacent waters, southwestern Japan.

Six species of caridean shrimps from four families are recorded from Japanese waters for the first time on the basis of material from the Ryukyu Islands and its adjacent waters, collected during research cruises of the T/RV "Toyoshio-maru" of Faculty of Applied Biological Science, Hiroshima University: two species of Crangonidae, Lissosabinea unispinosa Komai, 2006 and Pseudopontophilus serratus Komai, 2004; one species of Oplophoridae, Systellaspis pellucida (Filhol, 1885); one species of Pandalidae, Calipandalus elachys Komai Chan, 2003; and two species of Pasiphaeidae, Pasiphaea debitusae Hayashi, 1999 and P. gracilis Hayashi, 1999. Of them, L. unispinosa, Pseudopontophilus serratus, Pasiphaea debitusae and P. gracilis are heretofore known from the South-West Pacific localities, and then the geographical ranges of these four species are greatly extended to the north and west. Illustrations and/or colour images are provided for each species to supplement previous descriptions and to give evidence for identification.