Sinking Down or Floating Up? Current State of Taxonomic Studies on Marine Invertebrates in Japan Inferred from the Number of New Species Published between the Years 2003 and 2020

Abstract

Taxonomic studies on marine invertebrates have been prominent in Japan since the 19th century. Globally, taxonomy was reported to have been in recession since the early 21st century, but it is not clear if it is still in hardship or is making a recovery in recent years in Japan. In order to comprehend the status quo of taxonomic studies on marine invertebrates in Japan, we compiled a list of marine invertebrate species newly described from the exclusive economic zone of this country during the period between 2003 and 2020 and investigated trends by making comparisons of higher taxa and academic journals in terms of the numbers of new species and taxonomic authors. We noticed that recruitment of new researchers into taxonomic studies is evident in some taxa. We also found that certain articles with descriptions of new species are now being published in journals aimed at general biology/zoology, not oriented principally to taxonomy. We consider from our analyses that taxonomic studies on marine invertebrates in Japan show signs of resurgence, but development of new taxonomists is awaited in certain taxa.