Leptocephali collected in light traps near coral reef habitats of Ishigaki Island in the southern Ryukyu Island chain

摘要: The habitats used by leptocephali are poorly known except for a few studies on their depth distributions or collections of recruiting in some areas. Leptocephali have been reported to be collected light traps tropical coastal habi- tats, but species composition development stages not clarified. We report the collection small numbers lep- tocephali set within and adjacent coral reef along west coast Ishigaki Island Ryukyu chain Japan. Four muraenid one ophichthid at early-metamorphosis stage were outer edge May June 2007 2008. Two pre-metamorphosis Muraenesox cinereus be- tween inner reefs August 2006. Visible gut contents muraenesoscid larvae suggested they feeding near reefs. These clarify that both metamorphosing pre-metamorphosing can caught traps, it remains questionable if effectively sample near-shore habitats. Future research needs evaluate degree which collect comparing catches other evidence about presence same night.