Emperor Akihito’s new paper on Goby Research published

April 7, 2019

Tokyo--Emperor Akihito's 33rd paper on his goby research was published in the online edition of the Japanese Journal of Ichthyology on Friday.

The new paper, coauthored by Kyoto University professor emeritus Tetsuji Nakabo and others, is likely to be the final one presented by the Emperor before he renounces the throne at the end of this month.

The Emperor's latest study confirmed the existence of hybrids between two species in the Rhinogobius genus in the field for the first time ever, according to the coauthors and the Imperial Household Agency.

The Emperor started the study after he noticed in 2013 that gobies in the ponds of the Sento Imperial Palace in Kyoto had different features from a known Rhinogobius species.

In the study, he analyzed DNA samples from gobies collected from the ponds. Jiji Press