104
MALCOLM R. CLARKE
1957; Kjennerud, 1958) and a relatively enormous penis up to 78.0 cm
long and extending 55.0 cm beyond the mantle opening. Presence of
numerous evaginated spermatophore tubes stuck into the arms,
mantle, and penis of a male shows that accidental copulation between
males sometimes takes place (Kjennerud, 1958). Spermatophores
vary in length between 10-18 cm (Knudsen, 1957; Kjennerud, 1958;
Voss, 1956b). A male with a mantle length of 61.2 cm contained
spermatophores (Voss, 1956b) whereas another 156.0 cm long had a
small penis and was probably immature (Frost, 1934 from Figure).
The size reached by Architeuthis is often exaggerated in semiscientific journals. All the positively identified and measured specimens
have a total length of under 60 ft and a mantle length of under 17ft
(Fig. 3, A and B) while most have a mantle length less than 8 ft.
Weights of 48 kg (Kjennerud, 1958), 150 kg (Rees and Maul, 1956),
184 kg (Robert Clarke, 1955) and 259 kg (Frost, 1934) have been
recorded for squids with mantle lengths of less than 7 ft. Extrapolation
of a logarithmic plot of these 4 values against their respective mantle
lengths indicates that estimates of 700-900 lb (318-408 kg), 2 000 lb
(980 kg) and even 1 ton (1 000 kg) (Verrill, 1882c) are not impossible
for squids with mantle lengths of 17 ft.
Stomachs are almost invariably empty, but the suggestion that
squid are probably poor swimmers and ill adapted for catching active
prey (Robson, 1933; Voss, 1956b) seems incompatible with the many
hundred large suckers up to 3 cm diameter, the very powerful buccal
muscles, the short thick jaws giving maximum leverage, and the
thick mantle wall. Bruun (1945) mentioned that they chase herring but
gave no specific examples.
111. OMMASTREPHIDAE
It will be convenient to treat the genera of this family separately.
A. Ommastrephes
This genus contains a complex of 0. pteropus (Steenstrup, 1855),
0. c a d i (Furtado, 1887) and 0. bartrami (Lesueur, 1821) which are
not yet separable a t all stages and some historical detail is unavoidable
in discussing their distribution. One difficulty is that 0. bartrami was
described on the basis of a small specimen from Newfoundland which
has since been lost; it may have been a young specimen of the species
subsequently described as 0. caroli or 0. pteropus from larger specimens
taken elsewhere in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. However, although
there are large specimens which have since been referred to 0. bartrami
and are undoubtedly 0. caroli, there are also many Pacific so-called
MALCOLM R. CLARKE
1957; Kjennerud, 1958) and a relatively enormous penis up to 78.0 cm
long and extending 55.0 cm beyond the mantle opening. Presence of
numerous evaginated spermatophore tubes stuck into the arms,
mantle, and penis of a male shows that accidental copulation between
males sometimes takes place (Kjennerud, 1958). Spermatophores
vary in length between 10-18 cm (Knudsen, 1957; Kjennerud, 1958;
Voss, 1956b). A male with a mantle length of 61.2 cm contained
spermatophores (Voss, 1956b) whereas another 156.0 cm long had a
small penis and was probably immature (Frost, 1934 from Figure).
The size reached by Architeuthis is often exaggerated in semiscientific journals. All the positively identified and measured specimens
have a total length of under 60 ft and a mantle length of under 17ft
(Fig. 3, A and B) while most have a mantle length less than 8 ft.
Weights of 48 kg (Kjennerud, 1958), 150 kg (Rees and Maul, 1956),
184 kg (Robert Clarke, 1955) and 259 kg (Frost, 1934) have been
recorded for squids with mantle lengths of less than 7 ft. Extrapolation
of a logarithmic plot of these 4 values against their respective mantle
lengths indicates that estimates of 700-900 lb (318-408 kg), 2 000 lb
(980 kg) and even 1 ton (1 000 kg) (Verrill, 1882c) are not impossible
for squids with mantle lengths of 17 ft.
Stomachs are almost invariably empty, but the suggestion that
squid are probably poor swimmers and ill adapted for catching active
prey (Robson, 1933; Voss, 1956b) seems incompatible with the many
hundred large suckers up to 3 cm diameter, the very powerful buccal
muscles, the short thick jaws giving maximum leverage, and the
thick mantle wall. Bruun (1945) mentioned that they chase herring but
gave no specific examples.
111. OMMASTREPHIDAE
It will be convenient to treat the genera of this family separately.
A. Ommastrephes
This genus contains a complex of 0. pteropus (Steenstrup, 1855),
0. c a d i (Furtado, 1887) and 0. bartrami (Lesueur, 1821) which are
not yet separable a t all stages and some historical detail is unavoidable
in discussing their distribution. One difficulty is that 0. bartrami was
described on the basis of a small specimen from Newfoundland which
has since been lost; it may have been a young specimen of the species
subsequently described as 0. caroli or 0. pteropus from larger specimens
taken elsewhere in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. However, although
there are large specimens which have since been referred to 0. bartrami
and are undoubtedly 0. caroli, there are also many Pacific so-called