This image shows a box of maboya, Halocynthia roretzi, at one of the intermediate wholesaler stands at the Tsukiji Metropolitan Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan. These are ascidians (generic Japanese name: hoya) . They are in the taxonomic class ascidiacea. This name comes from the Greek 'asci' which means bag or bladder. They are also known as tunicates because their body is encased in a tunic or a test. As swimming larvae these animals possess a notochord but this is lost when they settle on a substrate. These ascidians are cultivated in Korea and Japan where they are prized as food. Another ascidian species is eaten in the South of France and I have also seen ascidians for sale in restaurants in Brussels. Author Alan Davidson who wrote "Mediterranean Seafood" states that the Mediterranean species that he ate "tasted quite good" and looked "like scrambled eggs". He cut open the tunic or test to eat the "yellow part" inside the animal. I have never knowingly eaten them myself. Photographed in December 1988. File No. 1288 29 ©RLLord fishinfo@guernsey.net

Often described as the greatest wholesale fish market in the world. Tsukiji Fish Market in downtown Tokyo sells a breathtaking variety of fish & shellfish. Tsukiji sells live fish and shellfish as well as the best possible quality of fresh and frozen seafood. Even though the Tsukiji fish market building dates from the 1930s the market is cleaned so thoroughly everyday that there is no fishy odour (TMA) at all. One can happily visit for many hours, spend the rest of the day in the same clothes, and no one will be aware of where you have been from the smell of your clothes or your shoes. The freshness and packaging of the seafood on display provides a valuable lesson for everyone in the global seafood industry.

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This image shows a box of maboya, Halocynthia roretzi, at one of the intermediate wholesaler stands at the Tsukiji Metropolitan Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan. These are ascidians (generic Japanese name: hoya) . They are in the taxonomic class ascidiacea. This name comes from the Greek 'asci' which means bag or bladder. They are also known as tunicates because their body is encased in a tunic or a test. As swimming larvae these animals possess a notochord but this is lost when they settle on a substrate. These ascidians are cultivated in Korea and Japan where they are prized as food. Another ascidian species is eaten in the South of France and I have also seen ascidians for sale in restaurants in Brussels. Author Alan Davidson who wrote "Mediterranean Seafood" states that the Mediterranean species that he ate "tasted quite good" and looked "like scrambled eggs". He cut open the tunic or test to eat the "yellow part" inside the animal. I have never knowingly eaten them myself. Photographed in December 1988.
File No. 1288 29
©RLLord
fishinfo@guernsey.net