''Salangichthys microdon'', the Japanese icefish, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of icefish found in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

. With the recent removal of '' S. ishikawae'' to the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Neosalangichthys'' this species is the only remaining member of the genus ''Salangichthys''. This species grows to a

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of . Despite its small size, it is considered a

food fish Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingest ...

and caught in

commercial fisheries Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

.Senta, T., I. Kinoshita, and T. Kitamura (1986). Larval Ishikawa Icefish, Salangichthys ishikawae from Surf Zones of Central Honshu, Japan. Bull. Fac. Fish. Nagasaki Univ. 59: 29–35.Saruwatari, T., and M. Okiyama (1992). Life History of Shirauo Salangichthys microdon; Salangidae in a Brackish Lake, Lake Hinuma, Japan. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 58(2): 235-248. ''Salangichthys microdon'' may show both migratory (

anadromous Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousan ...

; adults in salt water but moving to fresh water to breed) and non-migratory (always in

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

or fresh water) life histories, with both types periodically occurring together.

References

Salangidae Fish of Japan Fish of Korea Fish of Russia Fish of East Asia Fish described in 1860 Monotypic ray-finned fish genera {{Osmeriformes-stub