CEPHALOPODS IN THE NORTHERN JAPAN SEA: SPECIES COMPOSITION, ECOLOGY AND FIFHERY
Faunal list of cephalopods occurring in the Tatar Strait (northern Japan Sea) has been updated based on the new data. It includes 13 species, which belong to three orders: 7 species of squids (order Teuthida), 4 species of octopuses (order Octopoda) and 2 species of bobtail squids (order Sepiolida). The most important for fishery is the Japanese flying squid (Todarodes pacificus), which annual catch may exceed 4,000 metric tons in the Tartar Strait alone. The schoolmaster gonate squid (Berryteuthis magister) and giant Pacific octopus (Octopus dofleini) are potentially commercial species. Total annual cephalopod catch in the Tatar Strait may be more than 5,000 metric tons.