A sharp-billed terapon was caught for the first time off the Russian coast of the Sea of ​​Japan

The fish were “driven” to our shores by global warming

The sharp-beaked terapon – The fish, which usually lives off the coasts of Vietnam, the Philippines and southern Japan, was caught in Russian waters for the first time. This was reported by scientists from the Pacific Branch of VNIRO and the National Scientific Center for Marine Biology named after A.V. Zhirmunsky.

Sharp-beaked therapon. Photo: NSCMB FEB RAS

This case of catching southern fish species that have never been found in Russian waters is far from the only one. Despite the fact that in the Sea of ​​Japan the migration of subtropical species is hampered by the cold coastal Primorye Current, in recent years Russian fishermen have encountered several dozen heat-loving fish that had not previously been found on our shores. It is believed that the appearance of southern fish species in Russian waters is influenced by global warming of the ocean. 

As explained in the National Scientific Center for Marine Biology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the sharp-beaked terapon (Rhynchopelates oxyrhynchus), whose meat has high taste qualities, is commercial species for residents  northern Vietnam, Philippines, southern China, Taiwan, southern Korean Peninsula and southern Japan. Now it was caught for the first time in the Ussuri Bay, off the northern shore of Peter the Great Bay  in the Sea of ​​Japan.