A total of 148 specimens of Mitsukurina owstoni were examined for morphology, distribution, stomach contents, and reproductive condition. Sixty-nine males (81.7-208.5 cm in total length, TL) and 56 females (92.8-196.1 cm TL) were collected with bottom gillnets along a steep slope of the Tokyo Submarine Canyon (100-350 m depth) from May 1995 to October 1996. In addition, data were obtained from 23 specimens of M. owstoni collected from Sagami Bay, Suruga Bay, and the Enshu-nada Sea from 1972 to 2001. Japanese catch records already published (from 1898) plus those in the present study were from the Pacifi c coast of Japan, from Choshi to the Kii Peninsula. The main fi shing season for M. owstoni by bottom gillnet fi shing in the Tokyo Submarine Canyon was October to April, at depths of 200-245 m. No specimens examined were sexually mature, including the largest male (208.5 cm TL) and female (196.1 cm TL) recorded. Of 110 stomachs from specimens from the Tokyo Submarine Canyon, 32 (29.1%) were empty. The remainder variously included teleost fi shes, squids, decapods, isopods, digested food, and human refuse. Teleost fi shes (Macrouridae sp. and Stomiidae spp.), an isopod (Cymothoidae), and decapods (Pasiphaea sinensis and Sergia sp.) were the only identifi able prey, the indication being that teleosts (all size ranges) were of primary importance as prey for M. owstoni.
We report two records of the Japanese Murrelet Synthliboramphus wumizusume in the breeding season. 1) On 21 April 2003, one adult was observed about 1km offshore of Uchiura Bay, Amatsu-Kominato. 2) On 23 May 2003, two adults and one chick were observed about 2km offshore of Katsuura Bay, Katsuura. This is the first observation record of a chick with adults on the sea around Chiba Prefecture.
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