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Satoumi Ecology and Conservation Lab
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Based in the sea off Maizuru, the lab studies the lives of fish and other coastal organisms.
AboutAbout the lab
Learning from the sea about the links between people and nature.
The Satoumi Ecology and Conservation Lab is based at the Maizuru Fisheries Research Station in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, and studies organisms living in river mouths and coastal seas.
It conducts education and research related to fisheries science and environmental science, covering the ecology, physiology, behavior, and taxonomy of aquatic organisms, including fish.
The lab also works on Mori-Sato-Umi Connectivity Studies, which comprehensively examines ecosystem linkages from forest to sea.
Equipped with facilities such as a specimen museum, rearing buildings, and a research and training vessel, it is the only university-affiliated fisheries research station on the Sea of Japan side, and promotes joint use of its facilities.
Key terms
- Mori-Sato-Umi Connectivity Studies
- A field that studies ecosystem linkages from forests through rivers and human settlements to the sea as a single whole
- Ontogeny
- The process by which an organism's body and behavior develop from an egg to adulthood
- Speciation
- The process by which one species splits into separate species that do not interbreed with each other
NewsLab news
A master's student received the Excellent Presentation Award at the autumn meeting of the Kinki Branch of the Japanese Society of Fisheries Science
Professor Masuda received the Japan Agricultural Science Award and the Yomiuri Agricultural Science Award
Professor Masuda received the Japanese Society of Fisheries Science Award
ResearchResearch themes
Working mainly in river mouths and coastal waters, the lab studies the ecology, physiology, behavior, and taxonomy of aquatic organisms, including fish. Each faculty member works on topics such as the development of fish behavior, fish phylogeny and taxonomy, the ecology of coastal and estuarine areas, symbiosis in tidal flats, and ecology using environmental DNA.
*Illustrative imageExploring the development of fish behavior
The lab studies the ontogeny of fish behavior. By keeping fish, observing them, and recording them on video, it conducts research that could be called developmental psychology of fish.
*Illustrative imageSpeciation of fishes in northern seas
Rockfishes (Sebastidae), snailfishes (Liparidae), and lumpsuckers (Cyclopteridae) are groups that have diversified into many species mainly in the cold seas of the Northern Hemisphere. Using morphological and molecular genetic methods, the lab investigates why they speciated and how they maintain their distinctness as species.
*Illustrative imageLife histories of coastal and estuarine organisms
Coastal and estuarine areas have highly active biological production, yet are easily affected by human activity. The lab studies the distribution, diet, growth, and survival of fish and crustaceans in their early developmental stages, when they are vulnerable to environmental change, and explores how people can live alongside these organisms.
*Illustrative imageDwelling symbiosis in tidal flats
The lab studies dwelling symbiosis in gobies and crustaceans that hide in or settle into burrows made by tidal flat organisms. Through fieldwork and rearing experiments, it aims to clarify the adaptive evolution of these symbionts and the various interspecies relationships centered on burrows.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Satoumi Ecology and Conservation Lab (Maizuru Fisheries Research Station) consist of faculty, researchers, staff including technical staff, and PhD, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorReiji Masuda
- Associate ProfessorYoshiaki Kai
- Associate ProfessorKeita Suzuki
- Assistant ProfessorYumi Henmi
- Program-Specific Assistant ProfessorTetsu Yatsuyanagi
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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: “Maizuru bay” Sea of Japan / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Exploring the development of fish behavior: “Atlantic bumper aquarium” James Williams from Charleston, SC, United States of America / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Speciation of fishes in northern seas: “Sebastes Inermis” Daiju Azuma / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Life histories of coastal and estuarine organisms: “Fish )” NOAA Photo Library / Public domain (cropped)
- Dwelling symbiosis in tidal flats: “Alpheus djiboutensis (Snapping shrimp) with partner Cryptocentrus cinctus (Yellow shrimp goby)” Nhobgood Nick Hobgood / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (海洋生物増殖学分野): “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)
- Related lab (生物資源情報学分野): “Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) Moorea” Charles J. Sharp / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (昆虫生態学分野): “CSIRO ScienceImage 2289 A mature queen termite edit2” Forestry and Forest Products, CSIRO / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (海洋生物環境学分野): “Dugong Marsa Alam” Julien Willem / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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