Foreword

Kazunari Yano may not be a familiar name to many readers of the Journal of the Marine Biological Association (Figure 1). Indeed, he only published a single paper in this journal (Yano, 1995). However, Kazunari was a dedicated fish biologist with an extensive publications record and his pioneering biological studies on deep-sea sharks ensure that his work is much cited in the scientific literature (Musick, 2007), especially in those papers addressing deep-water squaloid sharks (e.g. Girard & Du Buit, 1999; Clarke et al., 2001; McLaughlin & Morrissey, 2005; Bañón et al., 2008). Kazunari’s life was tragically cut short in 2006, following a battle with cancer. This short biography and special issue of the Journal is dedicated to his memory.