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Marine Biological Propagation Lab
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A lab that works out how a flounder's eyes come to sit on one side of its head, and how fish populations are structured.
AboutAbout the lab
Seeking ways to increase and protect fish through their body form and populations.
The Marine Biological Propagation Lab studies changes in the body form of fish and other aquatic animals, and how their populations are structured.
The lab's research includes studies of metamorphosis and morphological abnormalities in flounders from the perspective of hormones, and studies using DNA to examine the structure of fish populations and the conservation of rare species.
Students each work on their own themes, including endangered species such as the Japanese lates (akame) and the Tokai stone catfish (nekogigi), and fish of the Ariake Sea.
Undergraduates are assigned to the Marine Biological Science Course in their third year, and to this lab within the course in their fourth year. (For graduate study, the lab is part of the Division of Applied Biosciences in the Graduate School of Agriculture.)
Key terms
- Metamorphosis
- A major change in body form during an animal's development, like a tadpole turning into a frog.
- Thyroid hormone
- A hormone that regulates development and metabolism. It also plays a central role in fish metamorphosis.
- Continental relict species
- Organisms that survive only in limited places in Japan as remnants of a time when Japan was connected to the continent by land.
ResearchResearch themes
The lab carries out two lines of research: studies of changes in the body form of aquatic animals, mainly fish, from the perspective of hormones, and studies that use DNA to examine the population structure and conservation of fishery animals.
*Illustrative imageWhy a flounder's body differs between left and right
Flounders are bilaterally symmetrical when young, but at metamorphosis one eye moves to the other side of the head. Hormones spread throughout the whole body, so the lab aims to explain why differences arise between the left and right sides.
*Illustrative imageMorphological abnormalities in flounders
Some flounders fail to complete metamorphosis and remain symmetrical, and others develop dark pigmentation on their underside. The lab aims to clarify the causes, starting with thyroid hormone, and to develop the research into work useful for aquaculture and stock enhancement.
*Illustrative imagePopulation structure of fishery animals
To manage resources and increase stocks through release, it is necessary to know the population structure within a species. The lab analyzes the population structure of fishery animals, mainly fish, using mitochondrial DNA, single nucleotide polymorphisms, and other markers.
*Illustrative imageContinental relict fishes in the Ariake Sea
The lab compares the genetic differences between continental relict species unique to the Ariake Sea and closely related species on the coasts of China and Korea, to investigate how the relict species came to exist. It also conducts conservation genetic analyses of declining and endangered species.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Marine Biological Propagation Lab are faculty, administrative assistants, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorMasatomo Tagawa
- Assistant ProfessorKoji Nakayama
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Flounder that came to eat the feed in the fish farm (Ibaraki Prefecture Aquaculture Center)” 小石川人晃 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Why a flounder's body differs between left and right: “FMIB 47585 Pleuronectes flesus, Young Flounder taken in Mevagissey Harbour, Aporil 2, 1889 pw, pelvid fin (1); Pleuronectes limanda, Larva” Joseph Thomas Cunningham / Public domain (cropped)
- Morphological abnormalities in flounders: “Bothus ocellatus (cropped)” João D'Andretta / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Population structure of fishery animals: “Ensenada fish market 2” Tomascastelazo / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Continental relict fishes in the Ariake Sea: “Ariake Sea and mudflat from Kawasoe, Saga” Pekachu / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Satoumi Ecology and Conservation Lab): “Maizuru bay” Sea of Japan / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Microbial Environment Control Lab): “Fungal mycelium” Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Marine Molecular Microbiology Lab): “XBio illustration – Bacteriophage (Phage)” explorebiology / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Marine Environmental Biology Lab): “Dugong Marsa Alam” Julien Willem / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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