THE PRODUCTION OF LIGHT BY THE FISHES 

 PHOTOBLEPHARON AND ANOMALOPS. 



By E. Newton Harvey. 



GENERAL ACCOUNT OF THE FISHES. 



In the Banda Islands, southeast of Amboina, the Moluccas, Dutch 

 East Indies, occur two luminous fish with relatively very large 

 luminous organs. One, Photoblepharon palpebratus, called ikan 

 (= fish) leweri (= ?) batu (= stone) by the natives, is known only 

 from this general region, and was first described by Boddaert (1781) 

 from a specimen obtained at Amboina. It is caught with hand-nets 

 in shallow water, swimming singly or few together, among the stones 

 or corals. The other, Anomalops katoptron, called ikan leweri ajer 

 (= water) or laut (= sea) by the natives, occurs also, although 

 rarely, at Amboina, Menado (North Celebes), Fiji, New Hebrides, 

 and the Paumotus. It was described by Bleeker in 1858. Unlike 

 Photoblepharon, it swims in schools of 100 or more near the surface, 

 in somewhat deeper water. In no other place in the world can these 

 fish be caught so easily or in such numbers as at Banda. 



During a trip to this region under the auspices of the Department 

 of Marine Biology of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, in 

 the autumn of 1920, I was able to obtain all the material needed 

 for my investigation without encountering any more difficulty than 

 the general indisposition of the fishermen to work beyond their usual 

 amount, or the advent of rough weather. In dealing with the fish- 

 ermen, my friend Sech Ahmed bin Said Baadilla acted as interpreter, 

 and it gives me great pleasure to acknowledge his kindness during 

 my stay at Banda Neira. I am also very greatly indebted to Dr. 

 A. L. J. Sunier, director of the Laboratorium voor het Onderzoek der 

 Zee, at Batavia, whose kind hospitality, letters of introduction, and 

 interest in my undertaking made my stay in Netherlands India a 

 pleasure and a success. Through his efforts also I was able to study 

 luminous forms of the Java Sea on the Dutch government's fisheries 

 steamer Brak. I take this opportunity of expressing my thanks to 

 the Dutch officials for their courtesy. 



These luminous fish of Banda possess more or less commercial 

 value to the fishermen. Both species are caught at night by the 

 natives and used as bait for other larger fish. The luminous organ 

 is cut out and placed on a hook, the light, which is said to last a night, 

 serving as a lure for other fish. From my own experience in the 



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