TRANSACTIONS OF WAGNER 
ON THE LIFE HISTORY OF AN ECONOMIC CUTTLEFISH OF JAPAN 
Besides the life history of the species, this paper deals with the morphology 
of the seminal receptacle, and the results of artificial fertilization of the eggs, as 
well as certain facts of the hydrography around the Japanese Islands, so far as 
these have important bearings on the present investigation. 
DISTRIBUTION 
According to the statistical reports referred to, the fishing places for Niban- 
zurumé appear to extend throughout the coasts of the Japanese Islands from 
Hokkaid6 on the north to Loochoo on the south. It must, however, be borne 
in mind that the name Nibanzurumé is so vaguely used that it does not always 
indicate the species above referred to, but implies different species. In Loochoo, 
for instance, the name is applied to Sym plectoteuthis ouolaniensis, which is 
caught there in plenty for market. In the northern parts of Hokkaidé, 
furthermore, both Onychoteuthis banksit and Ommastrephes sloani pacificus 
are taken together into the statistics under the name of Nibanzurumeé. 
The statistics of the reports are, though incomplete, enough to give a fair 
idea as to the density of distribution of the cuttlefish. From the statistics I 
have estimated, in respect to each prefecture or even each district, the mean 
amount of the annual catch of the species from 1908 to 1917. In the accom- 
panying map (fig. 1) I endeavored to show the mean annual catch obtained in 
this way by dottings in the definite number per unit area, so as to give the 
density of the coastal distribution. From the map it is clear that on the whole 
the species is much more abundant on the coast of the Japan Sea than on the 
Pacific side. In the former the animal seems to live not only along the coast, 
but also in the open sea, at least in summer, in which season it is reported that 
cargoboats bound between Vladivostock and Japan have made good catches 
on their way. Similar facts have been communicated by Mr. K. Kuroda, 
teacher of fishing in the Hokkaidé Imperial University, who caught the species 
on almost every part of the line between Hokkaidé and Vladivostock in Sep- 
tember, 1915. On the contrary, on the Pacific side of the Japanese Islands the 
distribution is quite limited within a few miles off the coast, except along 
Aomori-ken and Iwaté-ken where it may extend some twenty miles in summer 
and autumn. 
