358 



LUMINOUS ORGANISMS OF FAR EAST 



Fig. 8. Photo of Cijpridina noctiluca from tropical Asia. 



monly seen in the waters of Palao, Java, Malay, and even Hachijo 

 Island. It is slightly smaller than Cypridina hilgendorfii, being 2 mm 

 long and pyramidal in form. It is a pelagic species and can be taken 

 only by plankton net, since the animals are not attracted to fish bait. 

 At Hachijo Island, as in tropical seas, Cypridina noctiluca is abundant, 

 but no specimens of Cypridina hilgendorfii appeared. The light of 

 Cypridina noctiluca and that of Cypridina hilgendorfii are quite sim- 

 ilar in color. 



Luminous Shrimp 



In the winter season from October to May near the towns of Yui 

 and Kambara in Suruga Bay, Shizuoka Pref., more than 100 trawl- 

 fishing boats go out to catch deep sea shrimp. The scientific name 

 of these shrimp is Sergestes prehensilis, and the Japanese name is 

 Sakura-Ebi, meaning cherry shrimp. These are dried on the beaches 

 in sunlight and are an important commercial product of the two 

 towns. This shrimp possesses 157 photophores scattered over the body. 

 The trawl nets which catch the shrimp are drawn from depths of 

 from 50 to 100 fathoms by two fishing boats, and they bring up many 

 other kinds of luminous animals, such as other species of shrimps, 

 luminous squid, lantern fish, hatchet fish, Pyrosoma, jellyfish, and 



