INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON WETLANDS AND SUSTAINABILITY 2007

A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TIDAL CURRENT AND MOVEMENT OF ZOEAL

LARVAE OF CRABS JUST AFTER RELEASING IN AMPARU TIDAL LAGOON,
ISHIGAKI ISLAND, OKINAWA, JAPAN
KAWACHI Atsushi1, IRIE Mitsuteru2, and ISHIKAWA Tadaharu3

Abstract

AMPARU Tidal lagoon located on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, has the rich ecosystem,
being famous for abundance of small crabs, especially. There is, however,
concerned that the sedimentary process caused by human activity in the catchment
area may change not only landform and bottom substance of the lagoon but
characteristics of tidal current, so that it will have great impacts on lots of benthon
inhabiting there. In this paper, therefore, a relationship between breeding activity of
the benthon, especially crabs, and tidal current was examined by field investigations
and numerical simulation.
The two species of predominance of crabs of the lagoon, Mictyris brevidactylus and
Scopimera globosa, were selected as the indicator species. Quadrate investigation
and sampling larvae were carried out under their breeding season from winter to
spring. The former was to survey population of crabs and incubational condition at
15 fixed points in order to reveal their spatial distribution and accurate breeding time.
The latter was to sample zoeal larvae of crabs by a planktonic net located at a fixed
station of the channel connecting to the sea in the northern part of the lagoon, and
the fluxes at the station and movement characteristics of the larvae from the
releasing until entering the sea were examined in the spring tide. As a result, the
habitats of the two species showed the statistically significant difference. In addition,
disagreement was found between the flux peaks of the two species. It may be
caused by the difference of the habitats of the two species.
Based on the results of field investigations, the movement of the zoeal larvae was
analyzed by numerical tracer experiment using the ELCOM, 3-D hydraulic model,
and the Lagrangean Method. The simulation results show the good
correspondences to the field investigations. It suggests there is a relationship
between the movement of zoeal larvae and tidal current. Especially, the rate of the
1 2 3
Student, Research Associate, Professor
1, 2, 3
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and
Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
 INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON WETLANDS AND SUSTAINABILITY 2007

zoeae entering the sea become lower and lower in the southern area where lots of
both inhabit according to the simulation results. This suggests the southern area
may be in severe condition in the respect of maintenance of population.

Keywords:

1 2 3
Student, Research Associate, Professor
1, 2, 3
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and
Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan