Fig 1.
Location of post-tsunami visual censuses.
(A) Map of the Japanese archipelago showing major ocean currents (blue arrows), locations of the survey sites (asterisks), and earthquake epicenter (double circle). Pb, Pm, and Pr, respectively, represent the previously recorded northern distribution limits of Parupeneus barberinus, Parupeneus multifasciatus, and Plagiotremus rhinorhynchos in the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan according to Nakabo [23]. P. barberinus has never been reported in the Sea of Japan. (B) Magnified map of the survey area. (C) Four survey stations in and around the Moune Bay, Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture.
Table 1.
Maximum depth (m), substrate, and vegetation characteristics of each station surveyed in the first five years after the 2011 tsunami.
Fig 2.
(A) Seafloor temperature, (B) fish abundance, (C) species richness, (D) fish biomass, and (E) center of distribution in the northern hemisphere of coastal fauna in the Nishi-Moune Bay in the first five years following the 2011 tsunami.
Different letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05) among years. Significantly different stations (st.) are underscored by different horizontal lines in the legend in each figure.
Fig 3.
Notable fish species recorded during visual surveys in the Nishi-Moune Bay.
(A) Rainbow sculpin, Alcichthys elongatus (Station [st.] 4 in March 2011), (B) banded goby, Pterogobius elapoides (st. 2 in November 2011), (C) manybar goatfish, Parupeneus multifasciatus (st. 3 in September 2012), (D) dash-and-dot goatfish, Parupeneus barberinus (st. 2 in September 2013), (E) surfperch, Neoditrema ransonnetii (st. 2 in July 2013), (F) great sculpin, Myoxocephalus polyacanthocephalus (st. 2 in May 2014), (G) fringed blenny, Chirolophis japonicus (st. 4 in September 2014), and (H) black rockfish, Sebastes cheni (st. 2 in July 2014).
Fig 4.
Average number of individuals across four locations in the Nishi-Moune Bay of major fish and invertebrate species over the first five years after the 2011 tsunami.
(A) Banded goby, Pterogobius elapoides, (B) beauty goby, Pterogobius zacalles, (C) striped sandgoby, Acentrogobius virgatulus, (D) sevenspine goby, Gymnogobius heptacanthus, (E) surfperch, Neoditrema ransonnetii, (F) black rockfish, Sebastes cheni, (G) sunrise sculpin, Pseudoblennius cottoides, (H) greenling, Hexagrammos otakii, (I) moon jellyfish, Aurelia sp., (J) sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus, and (K) abalone, Haliotis discus hannai. Different symbols and colors correspond to stations shown in Fig 1. Different letters indicate significant differences among years.
Fig 5.
Body length of (A) sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus, and (B) abalone, Haliotis discus hannai, recorded in each survey across four sites in the Nishi-Moune Bay in the first five years after the 2011 tsunami.
Raw data (open circles: all stations combined) and mean ± SD for each survey date (solid squares: only calculated when three or more data points were available) are shown. Different letters indicate significant differences among years at p < 0.05.
Fig 6.
nMDS ordination plot depicting Bray-Curtis similarities of total annual biomass for each fish species observed in surveys in the Nishi-Moune Bay in the first five years post-tsunami.
Each plot represents a station (st.) and year, e.g., 1_5 represents the data for St. 1 in the fifth year. The stress level was 0.14. The community structure continued to change for the entire study period at st. 1, whereas major shifts in fish communities were observed from the first to the second year only at stations 2–4.