The Emperor of Japan has admitted that he is the source of an aggressive American fish which may have driven at least one native species to extinction. “I brought the fish back from the United States almost 50 years ago. I feel very pained now that it has had this result,” said Emperor Akihito (Mainichi Daily News).

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun the Emperor, who was then Crown Prince, received a gift of bluegills from the mayor of Chicago during a visit to the US. A trial release of the fish took place in Lake Biwa in the hope that they might be used for food or fishing. The Emperor’s remarks came in a speech at the annual National Convention for the Development of an Abundantly Productive Sea

The UK’s Times says the introduced bluegills have already driven the Japanese rosy bitterling to extinction. The IUCN Red List however says the fish is only Critically Endangered. It has long been known the fish were probably introduced by Akihito, who is a trained marine biologist, and this fact has even appeared in journal articles and press reports. This though is the first time he has issued an explicit mea culpa.

Image: Bluegill / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service