Firefly Squid Options

[RX3-BOi]

anyone care to explain this species or did someone just happen to get trigger happy with some glowsticks. found it on another forum and it was suppsoedly washed up as part of the tsunami.



heres the link to the other forum with more pics of fish/crabs and other weird looking creatures.http://ausrotary.dntinternet.com/forums/vi...p=598389#598389

[glen]

that website post is a hoax and has nothing to do with the TSUNAMI. the images appear to be real fish but they definately did not get washed up in the Tsunami because the images have been on the net for a very long time. Many of the images appeared on 1 March 2004 on the following site -

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=19383

[RX3-BOi]

ye i know that it wasn;t probably real but is this squid real? as in do they really have those light up things on there heads

[Fried Walleye]

I've seen several squid in Puget Sound , that had a green lighting :online2long: , just like the one in your pic. I've also seen some octopus with little light circles. Although this doesn't explain it, I would say the squid in your pic is real.

Take it easy,
Chris

[Guest_Guest_*]

that's a firefly squid and those things are called photophores and it emitts light from them. the squid has them all over their body.

[glen]

hi guest, can you tell us where in the world firefly squid live? are they deep sea creatures?

cheers, glen

[Guest_Guest_*]

western pacific ocean and they can be seen from march to may in toyama bay in japan

[glen]

thanks for that info. would you know if recreational fisherman are catching these squid?

cheers, glen

western pacific ocean and they can be seen from march to may in toyama bay in japan

[glen]

Here is a bit more information about firefly squid.

Firstly, the photo posted above by rx3-boi was taken on the NORFANZ fisheries research voyage.

Here is a link to the original image -

http://www.oceans.gov.au/norfanz/images/ph...eflysquidMN.jpg

The NORFANZ voyage was a joint Australian - New Zealand research voyage carrying leading Australian, New Zealand and other international scientists to explore deep sea habitats and biodiversity in the Tasman Sea. The NORFANZ research voyage explored deep sea habitats around seamounts and abyssal plains around Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands through to northern New Zealand.

According to the trip diary, on day 28 (6 June 2003) of the journey, "several small firefly squids (genus Abralia)" were captured.

The confusing thing is the reference to "genus Abralia". The species usually referred to as "firefly squid" is Watasenia scintillans which is of the genus "Watasenia". In other words, the photo of the firefly squid above is a different species to the one that inhabits Toyama Bay in Japan.

The Toyama Bay species (referred to above by "guest") is a well known commercial squid species. It glows in the dark and is an amazing animal. Apart from being called "firefly squid", it is also known as "Sparkling Enope Squid" and "Japanese firefly squid". For more information, have a look at the following pages -

http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Watasenia%20scintillans
http://shell.sinica.edu.tw/chinese/squiddetail.php?id=42
http://www.zen-ika.com/zukan/21-30/p28.html
http://www.city.uozu.toyama.jp/en/htrk/
http://www.cephbase.utmb.edu/spdb/speciesc.cfm?CephID=277

The image below of a firefly squid was sourced from the following page -

http://www.cap.or.jp/INT/Toyamawan/hotaruika.html

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[glen]

For anyone going to Japan, you might like to do an organised tour to see the firefly squid.

http://kanko.toyamaken.jp/english/toyama_guide.html

Hotaruika (Firefly Squid) Sightseeing Tour
Annually offered in spring, the season for "hotaruika" (firefly squid), this firefly squid sightseeing tour provides you with a first-hand experience of fishing a shoal of several hundreds of thousands of firefly squids. Only a few several centimeters in length, each emits bright light over 30cm in all directions, creating a fantastic world of light in the sea.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
076-475-0100
(Namerikawa Tourist Association)
Tour service offered in mid-April to early May in Namerikawa offshore fixed net fishing ground 10 minutes walk to the fishing boat boarding platform from JR Namerikawa Station. Namerikawa.

[glen]

Big firefly squid fans might also like to obtain their own plastic firefly squid!

http://www53.tok2.com/home/mirage2002/aina...nt/31_40/40.htm

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