| Sparkling Enope Squid | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Order: | Teuthida |
| Family: | Enoploteuthidae |
| Genus: | Watasenia Ishikawa, 1914 |
| Species: | W. scintillans |
| Binomial name | |
| Watasenia scintillans (Berry, 1911) |
|
The Sparkling Enope Squid (Watasenia scintillans), also known as the Firefly Squid, is a species of squid in the family Enoploteuthidae. It is the sole species in the genus Watasenia.
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The Sparkling Mason Squid is found in the Western Pacific ocean at depths of 183 to 366 metres (600 – 1200 feet) and exhibits bioluminescence. Each tentacle has an organ called a photophore, which produces light. When flashed, these lights attract small fish, which the squid can then feed upon.
The Sparkling Enope Squid is the only species of cephalopod in which evidence of color vision has been found. While most cephalopods have only one visual pigment, firefly squid have three, along with a double-layered retina. These adaptations for color vision may have evolved to enable firefly squid to distinguish between ambient light and bioluminescence.
The Sparkling Enope Squid measures about 3 inches long at maturity and dies after one year of life. It has the standard eight arms and two tentacles, with one pair each having three bright light-emitting organs at the tips.
The Sparkling Enope Squid spends the day at depths of several hundred metres, returning to the surface when night falls. The combination of light-sensing and light-producing organs enable it to match its underside to the brightness and colour coming from the surface (counterillumination), making it hard for predators from below to detect it.
The Sparkling Enope Squid can also light up its whole body to attract a mate. The mating season of the Sparkling Enope Squid lasts from March to June.
The Sparkling Enope Squid is commercially fished in Japan, accounting for an annual catch of 4,804 to 6,822 tons from 1990 to 1999. [1]