Research Paper

Taiwanese fish collection donated by Masamitsu Oshima to Kyoto University, currently deposited in the Kyoto University Museum

Mizuki Matsunuma, Kyoji Fujiwara, Masaharu Motokawa, Kazumi Hosoya

Published on: 21 May 2026

Page: 444 - 454

DOI: 10.6165/tai.2026.71.444

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    Abstract

    Masamitsu Oshima made significant contributions to the taxonomy of Taiwanese fishes in the early 20th century. Although many of the type series of Taiwanese fishes originally described by him are now housed in US institutions, there are no verified collections of Taiwanese fishes amassed by Oshima. During a survey of the historical fish collection at the Kyoto University Museum, we discovered 39 lots comprising 96 specimens (representing 39 species in 18 families) of freshwater fishes collected in Taiwan between 1916 and 1920, and donated to Kyoto University by Oshima around 1921. The collection included specimens identified by Oshima as taxa originally described by himself, including Labeo jordani Oshima, 1919; Scaphesthes tamusuiensis Oshima, 1919; Spinibarbus hollandi Oshima, 1919; Culter aokii Oshima, 1919; Phoxiscus kikuchii Oshima, 1919; Gnathopogon iijimae Oshima, 1919; Pseudobagrus adiposalis Oshima, 1919; Pseudobagrus taiwanensis Oshima, 1919; Rhinogobius formosanus Oshima, 1919; and Mugil anpinensis Oshima, 1922, as well as several endangered taxa, including the now-extinct native Taiwanese population of Plecoglossus altivelis (Temminck and Schlegel, 1846). An overview of the collection is provided, and the possible type status of examples of nominal species described by Oshima is discussed. Morphological notes on Taiwanese P. altivelis are given for comparison with the Chinese subspecies. Although no specimens were found to qualify as types, the rediscovered collection provides valuable historical information on the freshwater fish fauna of early 20th-century Taiwan.

    Keyword: freshwater fishes, ichthyology, museum specimen, Taiwan

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