A molecular phylogenetic survey was conducted using mtDNA sequences of 12S and 16S rRNA, and cyt-b genes to examine taxonomic relationships among populations of the Pan-Oriental microhylid, Microhyla ornata, from India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Laos, China, Taiwan, and the Ryukyu Archipelago of Japan. Two discrete clades are recognized within this species, one consisting of populations from India and Bangladesh, and the other encompassing the remaining populations. In the latter clade, populations from the Ryukyu Archipelago are clearly split from the rest (populations from Taiwan and the continent) with considerable degrees of genetic differentiations. Each of the three lineages is judged to represent a good species, and the name Microhyla ornata is restricted to the South Asian populations. For the populations from Taiwan and a wide region from China to Southeast Asia, the name Microhyla fissipes should be applied, whereas the Ryukyu populations are most appropriately referred to as Microhyla okinavensis, although further substantial genetic differentiations are recognized among some island group populations within this last species.

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Morphometrical analyses were performed on Buccinum tsubai , a deep-sea gastropod found in the Sea of Japan, and morphological differences were examined between the gender and among the four local subpopulations of Hokkaido, Yamagata-Toyama, the Yamato Bank, and San'in which are distinguished by mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis. As a result, sexual dimorphism of B. tsubai was found. Morphological differences were also recognized among four areas which may be related to genetic differences. They are also thought to be associated with the phenotypic plasticity in response to different environmental factors in each area. B. tsubai inhabits the the upper portion of the Sea of Japan Proper Water (UJSPW); and in the UJSPW of the Yamato Basin, nutrients are comparatively abundant and the dissolved oxygen content is low. Such environmental differences may be related to morphological differences among the four areas.