FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 80. NO. 4 



Enoploteuthis theragrae was described from 

 seven specimens found in the stomach contents of 

 two codfish, Theragra chalcogramma, captured 

 in 1957 and 1962 from two localities in the Japan 

 Sea. These specimens probably are allied to E. 

 chuni. Except for the mantle photophores (six in 

 rows for theragrae and eight in rows for chuni) all 

 other diagnostic characters are shared by both 

 species (M. Okiyama 4 ). 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION 



Enoploteuthis anapsis and E. leptura are 

 widely distributed in the Atlantic. Enoploteuthis 

 leptura is known from the Gulf of Guinea (type 

 locality), Madeira, Cape Verde Islands, the 

 southern Straits of Florida (Roper 1966), and 

 east of Bermuda (Roper 1977). Enoploteuthis 

 anapsis is recorded from parts of the western 

 Atlantic in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean 

 Sea, from the mid- Atlantic, Madeira, St. Helena, 

 and South Equatorial Current (Roper 1966), and 

 east of Bermuda (Roper 1977). 



Enoploteuthis chuni was first described from 

 Toyama Bay, Sea of Japan, and Sasaki (1920) re- 

 ported it later, again from Toyama Bay and 

 farther south from Bungo Strait. Shimomura 

 and Fukataki (1957) recorded it again from the 

 sea of Japan together with Wataseniascintillans 

 in the stomach contents of Alaskan pollock. 

 Okutani (1967) listed an adult specimen from 

 Sagami Bay on the Pacific side of Japan and 

 some larval stages later (1968), also from the 

 Pacific side of Japan. The first and only record of 

 E. theragrae is from the Sea of Japan in 1964. 



Enoploteuthis galaxias is known only from the 

 type locality, off Gabo Island to Everard 

 Grounds, Victoria, Australia. 



Enoploteuthis reticulata was described from 

 specimens taken by midwater trawl and from 

 stomach contents of Alepisaurus ferox caught in 

 areas of the southwest Pacific, approximately 

 between lat. 22° and 18°S and long. 164°E and 

 133°W. The present material extends the dis- 

 tribution to lat. 21°N in the Hawaiian area and 

 Okutani's specimen (1974, Enoploteuthis sp. No. 

 1) to the southeast Pacific at lat. 17°S, long. 

 126°W. 



The genus Enoploteuthis was first reported 

 from the central Pacific by King and Ikehara 

 (1956) in their study of the food and feeding 



4 M. Okiyama, Tokyo University, Tokyo, Japan, pers. 

 commun. 26 November 1970. 



habits of the yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna. 

 They found a total of 36 specimens of Enoploteu- 

 this in the stomach contents of these fishes. There 

 are no other previous records of the genus from 

 the central Pacific. The station data of the present 

 material show that E. obliqua ranges approxi- 

 mately from lat. 11°N to 5°S and long. 81° to 

 144°W; E. octolineata from lat. 7°N to 3°S and 

 long. 144° to 157°W; E. jonesi from lat. 20°N to 

 14°S and long. 157° to 168°W; and E. higginsi 

 from lat. 21°N to 4°S and long. 149° to 169°W. Of 

 the five species found in the central Pacific, 

 namely, obliqua, octolineata, jonesi, higginsi, and 

 reticulata, the last three species range to areas 

 close to the Hawaiian Islands whereas obliqua 

 and ocfo/meata do not (Fig. 7). Based on available 

 records, reticulata has the widest range; it is 

 found in the southwest Pacific, Hawaiian area, 

 and southeast Pacific. Collections made between 

 September 1969 and November 1974 by the 

 University of Hawaii include specimens of E. 

 reticulata and E. higginsi (Young 1978). 



BATHYMETRIC DISTRIBUTION 



The genus Enoploteuthis is rare in collections, 

 and, except for E. anapsis (Roper 1966), E. 

 higginsi, and E. reticulata (Young 1978), few 

 depth records are available. 



Useful depth data are available for only two 

 specimens of E. leptura studied by Roper (1966). 

 These specimens were taken from depths 

 between and 170-300 m. Enoploteuthis anapsis 

 is represented by 25 specimens taken from 

 depths between 33 and 600 m at night and a 

 single specimen from very deep waters, 2,000 m, 

 during the day. Roper and Young (1975) 

 mentioned the capture of an E. anapsis specimen 

 in a closing net at 90 m, off Bermuda at night. 



Depth records are not included in the original 

 description of E. chuni; however, the Albatross 

 specimens reported by Sasaki (1920) came from 

 the stomach of a fish captured from deep water, 

 about 857 m. Okutani (1967, 1968) reported an 

 adult from a depth of 700 m and two larval stages 

 from the surface. 



The only known specimens of E. galaxias (four 

 specimens) were captured at depths between 288 

 and 450 m. 



The present material, except for that from two 

 tows at 240 and 576 m, came from depths 

 between the surface and 179 m. Depth data and 

 other pertinent records are listed in Table 6 for 

 131 specimens of obliqua, octolineata, jonesi, 



728 



