Abstract
The changes in the contents of minerals in firefly squids were investigated in connection with the body growth. The firefly squids were caught at 3 different fishing grounds in The Sea of Japan from March to July in 1989. The contents of moisture, ash, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron hardly varied during the fishing period, while those of copper (Cu), manganese and zinc increased with the body growth. Especially, the increase in Cu content was noteworthy among these minerals. The Cu content of the liver, in which nearly 70% of Cu in the whole body localized, similarly increased with body growth. Accordingly, the increase in Cu content of the whole body was mainly due to the accumulation of Cu in the liver. The same trend was observed in the change in Cu content of the liver of common squid. From these results, it was presumed that the accumulation of Cu in the liver along with the growth was general feature of squid.
