Nachdruck verboten, 

 UeberseUungsrecht vorbehalten. 



Edible Medusae. 



By 

 K. Kishinouyc, 



Imperial Fisheries Bureau, Tokyo. 

 With Plate 13 and 1 figure in text. 



In Japan as well as in China sorae rhizostomatous raedusae are 

 used for food. Generally full-grown specimens are selected for that 

 purpose, as their gelatinous layer is thicker and consequently raore 

 substantial than that of youug specimens. In Japan it is generally 

 the custom to preserve the umbrella ouly ; but in China and sometimes 

 in Japan too the whole auimal is preserved. The animal is preserved 

 with a mixture of alum and salt or between stearaed leaves of 

 K a s h i w a , a kind of oak , with the application of slight pres- 

 sure. To prepare the preserved medusa for the table, it is soaked 

 in water about half an hour, then taken out and well washed, cut 

 into small pieces and flavoured with some condiments. Thus pre- 

 pared it is easily masticable and furnishes an agreeable food. The 

 medusa is never eaten fresh. It is also used as a bait for the cap- 

 ture of file-fish (3Ionacanthus) and sea-breams (Pagrus). The latter 

 kind of fish is said to accompany shoals of such medusae. 



\Ve find the following two kinds of edible medusae in our waters : 



Rhopilefna esctilenta Kishinouye. 



Bhopüema sp. Kishinouye, 1890, in: Zool. Mag. Tokyo, V. 2, p. 47, tab. 2 



(Japanese). 

 Rhopüema esculenta Kishinouye, 1891, in: Zool. Mag. Tokyo, V. 3, p. 53 



(Japanese with a German diagnosis). 



The umbrella is extremely high, about | as high as broad. 

 It assumes a hemispherical form when fully expanded. It is very 



