Japanese Emperor Emeritus Akihito has found two new goby fish species, the Imperial Household Agency said Thursday.
The paper on the discovery was published online in May in the English version of the journal by the Ichthyological Society of Japan. It is the 34th paper related to goby fish by the emperor emeritus and the first since he abdicated in 2019.
The latest discovery is the first of its kind by him in 18 years, bringing the total number of new goby fish species he has found to 10.
According to the agency, the two new species were collected in the islands of Zamami and Iriomote in Okinawa Prefecture between 2001 and 2008 by staff at the biological research institute of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
They turned out to be new species after Emperor Emeritus Akihito analyzed sensory organs on the heads of the fish and other features.
The emperor emeritus has been engaging in goby fish classification research since he was crown prince.
The latest discovery followed research that he started about four years ago, when he was emperor. He carried out the study in earnest after his abdication.
The emperor emeritus is considering reviewing and reorganizing his past research, but no detailed plan has been fixed yet, the agency said.
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