Amphipod Species with Panda-Like Coloring Discovered in Wakayama

Wakayama, Jan. 13 (Jiji Press)–Two new amphipod species with black-and-white coloring patterns like a giant panda have been found in the town of Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan. Some in the prefecture hope that the novel creatures will be a new local tourism resource after four giant pandas raised at Adventure World, a leisure facility in Shirahama, were returned to China last year. One of the black-and-white amphipods, which resembles a shrimp and measures 5 to 8 millimeters in length, was found in a coastal area of Shirahama. In September 2024, a team from Hiroshima University, which conducted a survey on the creature, announced that it was identified as a new species of the Melita amphipod through morphological and DNA analyses and was named the Melita panda. The team led by professor Ko Tomikawa of the university in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, then announced in November 2025 that the other amphipod, found also in a Shirahama coastal area, was identified as a different new species. With a clearer black-and-white pattern, it looks even more like a panda than the Melita panda in terms of coloring and was named the Melita pandina. Melita pandinas are 5 to 10 millimeters in length and live underneath rocks in sandy areas. According to the research group, both species may be protecting themselves from their predators, such as small fish, by making it difficult for them to be identified thanks to the coloring patterns. The two new amphipods have a similar appearance although genetic analyses found that the have different ancestral backgrounds. As a reason, the team cited a mechanism called evolutionary convergence, in which different species become similar in appearance during the process of adapting to similar environments and living patterns. “We will continue our research to find why they ended up having the black-and-white coloring,” Tomikawa said. “We hope that many people will come to know about the amphipods through their names and deepen their understanding of the creatures.” In the Wakayama town of Susami, a Shirahama neighbor, some hope that the new Melita amphipods will become a resource to attract tourists. The Susami Crustacean Aquarium, which displays some 200 species of crustaceans, plans to start exhibiting the Melita panda and the Melita pandina by the end of the year with the cooperation of Tomikawa and other members of the research team. Atsushi Hirai, 42, head of the aquarium, said, “I am glad that the two new species have ‘panda’ in their names as (giant) pandas are very familiar to the people of Wakayama.” “We will promote the amphipods” although they may not be able to earn the same level of popularity as the giant pandas that were raised at Adventure World, Hirai said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]