OBSERVATIONS ON HOTARU-IKA WATASENIA SCINTILLANS. 
103 
III. SUMMARY. 
In view of all the facts stated above, we arrive at the following conclu- 
sions : 
i) Hotaru-ika is a small cuttle-fish, the mantle-length being about 44-54 
mm. in the mature male and about 54-67 mm. in the mature female, showing 
some sexual dimorphisms. 
ii) It is a pelagic species, living generally in the deeper water, i. e. 100 
or more fathoms, and it is carnivorous. 
iii) The ratio of the number of females to that of males caught on the 
coast differs according to the season : the males are more numerous than the 
females in late winter or early spring, while the females, on the contrary, in- 
crease in number as the fishing season progresses. 
iv) They mate probably in early spring. 
v) The spawning season is commonly in late April and the whole of 
May in Toyama Bay, and is also probably the same, or a little earlier in Sa- 
gami Bay. 
vi) Hotaru-ika Avhich are caught in enormous quantities along the coast 
of Toyama Prefecture in the fishing season, are mostly females mature and 
mated, each carrying about 14 spermatophores. They are in the deeper water 
of 100 or more fathoms in the day time, and in the evening, moving as much 
as possible in deeper water, approach the shore or shallow sea floor to spawn. 
But they either can not or will not come more than 2 miles along a shallow 
floor of more than about 30 fathoms. And as soon as they spawn, they re- 
treat to the deep. 
vii) The egg is small and ovoid in shape, floating separately on the sea- 
surface. 
viii) The male dies probably after the fixation of spermatophores in the 
nape of the female, and the female also dies after she has finished spawning. 
I must express my opinion as to the eggs and larvae of an Abraliopsis 
