450 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



ICHTHYOLOGY IN JAPAN. 



By Prof. McIntosh, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S., &c. 



The third part of the first volume of the ' Fishes of Japan,' 

 chiefly in their economic aspects, by K. Otaki, A.B., T. Fujita, 

 and T. Higurashi, No. 8, vol. i. and No. 1, vol. iv. (Shokwabo, 

 publisher, Tokyo, Japan), contains an account of six species. 

 The first is the Black Pagrus (Sparus schlegeli, Bleek.), which is 

 not equal to the Red Tai {Pagrus major) in delicacy and popu- 

 larity, but large numbers are captured in the shallower waters 

 in summer by nets and lines. The spawning season is in May 

 and June, and the pelagic ova of 1 mm. in diameter hatch in 

 two days. In a year they reach six inches in length, and in two 

 years ten inches and maturity — a rapid development. The 

 Japanese fishes of the group to which this form belongs show, as 

 Dr. Giinther pointed out long ago, an approach to those of the 

 Mediterranean. Indeed, the invertebrate fauna of Japan re- 

 semble in certain instances that of the North Sea. The next 

 species— the Maguro or Black Eye (Thunnus schlegeli, Steind.) — 

 is caught by long lines and nets, and, as some reach the length 

 of eight feet, the fishing is of an exciting character. On the 

 Pacific Coast pound-nets of a complex character are employed. 

 The preparation of the fish into " fushi," the dried fish-stick, is 

 one of the important industries of the country. The Maiwashi 

 or Sardine (Clupanodon melanosticta, T. & S.) is extensively 

 canned, salted, and dried, as well as used in the preparation of 

 oil, and as a fertilizer. Just as in the case of Herrings and 

 Sprats, large flocks of Sea-gulls and the appearance of Whales 

 warn the fishermen, who encircle the fish with nets, which are 

 then drawn to the beach. The pelagic eggs of this form have an 

 oil-globule, and each fish is stated to produce forty thousand. 

 Though the Konoshiro (Konosirus punctatus, T. & S.) — an ally of 

 the former and, like the Tarpon, with the last dorsal ray pro- 

 longed into a whip-like filament — is an inferior fish, yet it is of 



