Since the inception of the 20th century, the sardine catch in the Far East has fluctuated remarkably. The author has analysed the mechanisms underlying the fluctuation as well as biological information needed for the study.
1. Following is a summary on the biological information pertinent to the study of the fluctuation in the sardine population.
a. The investigation of literature and published data revealed that almost all the sardine catch in the Far East has been composed of a single species, Japanese sardine, Sardinops melanosticta (TEMMINCK & SCHLEGEL)
b. The Japanese sardine has been widely distributed in the coastal waters along the Japanese Islands. The distribution range and migratory routes have changed according to fluctuation in the population size.
c. The Japanese sardine mainly spawn in the waters south of the central part of Japan during winter and spring. The spawning ground also indicated a large scale shift depending upon the population size.
d. It has been estimated that almost all the sardine eggs are fertilized just after they were discharged in the sea. The development changes depending upon the temperature, along the ARRHENIUS's equation with the coefficient of μ of about 31, 000. The mortality rate at the early stage, around time of the absorp tion of yolk, is very high, only 0.1 percent of fertilized eggs may survive at a postlarval stage of 15 mm in total length.
e. Most of the distinct scale rings are annuli that form during winter and early spring. The growth rate of the fish increases in the spring and decreases in winter. The growth of the fish throughout their life span fits to BERTALANFFY's equation. An example of the growth curves is calculated on the basis of data taken during 1949 through 1951 as follows:
l=22.39 {1-e^{-0.87 (t-0.0483)} } cm.
f. The study on fecundity of the sardine is less conclusive. It is estimated that a female ovulates 24, 000-48, 000 ova at one spawning activity and that many fish spawn two or more times in a season.
g. Postlarvae just after absorption of yolk feed mainly on copepodan eggs and nauplius. After that stage, the sardine eat zooplankton and phytoplankton in situ.
h. Major gear to catch the sardine are round hauls, drift nets, set nets, lift nets, and boat and beach seines. The fishing season differs depending upon the locality of fishing ground, and the size and the age of fish to be caught. A remarkable fluctuation has been observed in the geographical locations of the major fishing grounds.
2. The sardine was fished since the ancient years. There are records indicating that the fluctuations in the sardine catch caused prosperity and collapse of some fishing villages. The following outstanding phenomena were observed since the research systems on the catch and biological backgrounds of the sardine were established in the inception of the 20th century.
a. The annual sardine catch in the Far East was less than 150, 000 tons before 1910, increased rapidly since around 1924, and exceeded 2, 000, 000 tons around 1935. The catch was on the tremendous decrease in the 1940's, until it dropped to merely 160, 000 tons in 1945. Since then the sardine landings recovered slightly, being between 300, 000 and 500, 000 tons up to 1953, but decreased again in 1955 to around 200, 000 tons. In the prosperous period around 1935, the major portion of the sardine catch were obtained on the Pacific coast of northeastern Honshu and Hokkaido, and the Japan Sea coast of North Korea. Sardine were also caught then in the waters adjacent to Coast Range and Sakhalin. After 1945, no commercial fishery was present on the North Korea, Coast Range and Sakhalin. Around 1950 the waters northwest of Kyûshû were the most im portant fishing grounds of the sardine, and, since around 1955, the major catch has been brought from the waters around the Noto Pe

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Fishes were figured on Ancient Egyptian temples (Pyramids and others) in the past history. The Egyptian fishes are present in four region: Nile, Lakes, Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea.
1) Fishes of the Nile were first described scientificall b FORSCAL 1775 andsome of them are preserved in Denmark Museum. Many other scientists dealt with these fishes, among whom we can mention BRUCE (1790), BOULENGER (1907), KARAM (1940) who classified them into families, genera and species, and SUYEHIRO (1958) who studied the peculiar swimming of Synodontis nigrita.
2) Fishes of Lakes were described by MITCHELL (1895), HILGENDORF (1903) and others.
3) Fishes of the Mediterranean Sea were studied by several workers, the most important of whom was WIMPENNY (1934) who described the species shown in table 1.
4) Fishes of the Red Sea were described by FORSCÅL (1775), RÜPPELL (1826), KLUNZINGER (1870), 1871 and 1884, in table 2), SMITH (1959) and others. Fishes of order Plectognathae were studied in details by CLARK and GOHAR (1953) from Al-Ghardaqa.
The writer refers also the mummy of fishes in Ancient Egypt.
Now the research workers in Universities of Cairo, Alexandria and Ein-Shams as well as those in the Oceanographic Institute of Al-Ghardaqa and the Hydrobiological Institute of Alexandria deal with all these fishes from several points of view.
The production of fishes in Egypt in 1957 is shown in table 3 which was made by the help of Dr. LATIF. The total production is about 38, 894, 314 kgs. (21, 536, 630) kgs from inland water and 17, 357, 684 kgs from sea-water). In comparing this amount and the population of Egypt with the total fish production of Japan in the same year (5, 407, 544 tons) and our population we can find that the consumption ratio of every Egyptian is about 1/28 of the Japanese one.

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Here the author has furthermore enumerated twenty unrecorded species of fishes with brief descriptions, which are to be newly added into a list of fishes of Niigata Prefecture and its adjacent waters of the Japan Sea side. The author has now checked 501 species of fishes from the waters around Niigata Prefecture.
Among the fishes listed herein, there are one small freshwater fish, Biwia zezera, three youngs of fishes, Zenopsis nebulosa, Chaetodontoplus septentrionalis, and Tetrao don stellatus, which were transported by warm Tsushima Current, and one rare bramid fish, Taractes platycephalus. It is interesting to find distribution of an apodal fish, Muraenichthys gymnotus, in the coast of Sado Island. Thirteen records of col lection of the dealfish, Trachipterus ishikawai, are also given in this paper, which were obtained in the sea surface and coast of Niigata to Yamagata Prefectures during February 1960 to May 1961.

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The seasonal changes in the gonads of the land-locked salmonoid fish, the socalled “Koayu”, in the Lake Biwa were observed histologically, and the following results were obtained.
1. The growth of ovary of the fish are correlated with the increase in number and the expansion of dimension of germ cells.
2. The gonad of juvenile fish, the socalled Hi-uwo, taken in November and December, originates from the dorsal fold of the splanchnic mesoderm. However, the initiation and mode of the sexual-differentiation was undetermined. The histological differences between the ovary and testis become distinct in the materials of January, since the primary oocytes and the spermatogonia are recognized in each gonad.
3. The ovarian eggs pass through the state of yolkless from January to July. In the pre-spawning season, August to September, the vitellogenesis rapidly occurs in the number of eggs. Then, these eggs are reaching a ripe-stage. The developmental stages of ovarian eggs contained in a single ovary of Koayu are not quite synchronous.
4. Several groups of the young oocytes at the stage of pen-nucleoli have been encountered in the ovigerous folds of the spent gland of the socalled Otu-nen Koayuthat have survived after spawning. These young oocytes have derived from the residual oogonia. It is not yet determined whether or not these young oocytes can develop to mature functional eggs. Development of the ovarian eggs of the Otu-nen Koayu might be classified as partial synchronism.
5. It seems to be probable that the hypertrophic granulosa cells merly play a part in the destruction, transfer, and ingestion of oolemma and egg contents, such as yolk and ooplasm, during the formation of corpora lutea of pre-ovulation atretic eggs in the spent ovary of fish. In the process of degeneration, the atretic eggs showed the A-, B- and C-phase, but not the D-phase, which is considered to be the ultimate corpus luteum. On the other hand, many, scattered, yellow pigment granules were recognized in the connective tissue of the spent ovary of Otu-nen Ko-ayu. It is likely that they are derived from the ovulation scars, namely, the empty follicles (=the post-ovulation corpora lutea).
6. The primordial germ cells, the primary spermatogonia under the growth and multiplication periods were detected in the testis of fish obtained from January to June. The maturation division were frequently encountered in the preparation of summer, and the sperm are ejected outside the testis after the completion of formation of spermatozoa in September. The maturity of the cells contained in a single testis is synchronous.
7. In the cystic wall of the spent testis there appeared a layer of spermatogonia in the resting stage, which are newly formed after the first spawning. The fate of these new spermatogonia during the survival time of fish is questionable. Besides, these are two types in the interstitial cells of lobular wall.

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Three species of lutianid fishes of the genus Paracaesio, namely, P. caeruleus (KATAYAMA), P. kusakarii ABE and P. tumidus (TANAKA), are important food-fishes in Japan and Ryukyu Islands. In addition to these species, there occurs another congener in Ryukyu, and, though not commonly met with, it is known as “ Hingashitchu^* ” among a few experienced fish-dealers in the island of Okinawa, one of the Ryukyus. In 1960, the junior author suggested without giving it a new scientific name that the “ Hinga-shitchu ” might represent a new species, and since passed on the specimens of this fish to the senior author who has access in Tokyo to thousands (of caeruleus) or hundreds (of kusakarii and tumidus) of individuals of the three congeners mentioned above in a year. As these members of Paracaesio are subject to considerable individual variation in the shape of the body, coloration, size and arrangement of teeth, etc. (probably correlated with the sexes at least partly), and as the number of the specimens of the “ Hinga-shitchu ” available is so small, it took some time before the present authors have been led to the conclusion that a new scientific name should be given to the “ Hinga-shichu ” and that it is very closely related to Apsilus fuscus^** KLUNZINGER (not of VALENCLENES, 1830) known from Red Sea and Paracaesio xanthurus (BLEEKER) from the East Indies.

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