REVIEW
OF THE SYSTEMATICS AND ECOLOGY OF OCEANIC SQUIDS
117
1864; Yates, 1889; Kelsey, 1907; Berry, 1911c; Phillips, 1931, 1961;
Clarke and Phillips, 1936; Croker, 1937), north Queensland (Brazier,
1892b), Lord Howe Island off eastern Australia (Brazier, 1892a) and
the Solomon Islands (Brazier, 1892a) (Fig. 9). A record from Perim
Island in the Red Sea would seem to need confirmation (Brazier,
1892a).
This species comes to the surface a t night in great numbers and is
apparently the south eastern Pacific counterpart of Ommastrephes and
Symplectoteuthis. After a mass mortality in Talcahuano Bay (Schneider,
1930; Wilhelm, 1931) many thousands were washed up and congested
the harbours; this gave an indication of the very large numbers present
in the area. At Monterey in California large numbers have been caught
in certain years and although a small proportion have been sold to
the Japanese (Clarke and Phillips, 1936) they have been considered a
pest to the game fisheries (Croker, 1937).
The Californian specimens all had a total length of less than about
5 ft (Berry, 1912b; Phillips, 1961) and reached over 30 lb in weight
(Croker, 1937), but off Chile they apparently reach much larger sizes
and possibly even up to a total length of 12 ft (personal communication
with inhabitants of Chile).
The stomachs of three specimens contained anchovies, one contained
Scomberesox and two contained squid flesh out of a total of eight
examined (de Sylva, 1962).
The species is important in the diet of Sperm whales caught off
Peru and Chile (Clarke unpublished) and is used for bait and to some
extent for food in Chile and California.
D. Hyaloteuthis
This genus includes a single species.
1. Hyaloteuthis pelagica ( BOSC, 1802)
Sepia pelagica Bosc, 1802
Ommastrephes pelagicus d’orbigny, 1835-1848
A rather rare species which is very widely distributed, being found
in the Atlantic (d’orbigny, 1835-1848; 1845; Steenstrup, 1880), in the
West Indies (Adam, 1957), Saint Lucia (Gray, 1849), Ascension Island
(Stonehouse, 1962) and the eastern North Atlantic (Clarke unpublished),
as well as in the Pacific from Japan (Sasaki, 1929a), the Bonin Islands
(Sasaki, 1929a), the Marshall Islands (Voss, 1954b), north of Hawaii
(Rehder, 1940) and the South Pacific (Pfeffer, 1912).
These squids are caught near the surface a t night and are charac-
OF THE SYSTEMATICS AND ECOLOGY OF OCEANIC SQUIDS
117
1864; Yates, 1889; Kelsey, 1907; Berry, 1911c; Phillips, 1931, 1961;
Clarke and Phillips, 1936; Croker, 1937), north Queensland (Brazier,
1892b), Lord Howe Island off eastern Australia (Brazier, 1892a) and
the Solomon Islands (Brazier, 1892a) (Fig. 9). A record from Perim
Island in the Red Sea would seem to need confirmation (Brazier,
1892a).
This species comes to the surface a t night in great numbers and is
apparently the south eastern Pacific counterpart of Ommastrephes and
Symplectoteuthis. After a mass mortality in Talcahuano Bay (Schneider,
1930; Wilhelm, 1931) many thousands were washed up and congested
the harbours; this gave an indication of the very large numbers present
in the area. At Monterey in California large numbers have been caught
in certain years and although a small proportion have been sold to
the Japanese (Clarke and Phillips, 1936) they have been considered a
pest to the game fisheries (Croker, 1937).
The Californian specimens all had a total length of less than about
5 ft (Berry, 1912b; Phillips, 1961) and reached over 30 lb in weight
(Croker, 1937), but off Chile they apparently reach much larger sizes
and possibly even up to a total length of 12 ft (personal communication
with inhabitants of Chile).
The stomachs of three specimens contained anchovies, one contained
Scomberesox and two contained squid flesh out of a total of eight
examined (de Sylva, 1962).
The species is important in the diet of Sperm whales caught off
Peru and Chile (Clarke unpublished) and is used for bait and to some
extent for food in Chile and California.
D. Hyaloteuthis
This genus includes a single species.
1. Hyaloteuthis pelagica ( BOSC, 1802)
Sepia pelagica Bosc, 1802
Ommastrephes pelagicus d’orbigny, 1835-1848
A rather rare species which is very widely distributed, being found
in the Atlantic (d’orbigny, 1835-1848; 1845; Steenstrup, 1880), in the
West Indies (Adam, 1957), Saint Lucia (Gray, 1849), Ascension Island
(Stonehouse, 1962) and the eastern North Atlantic (Clarke unpublished),
as well as in the Pacific from Japan (Sasaki, 1929a), the Bonin Islands
(Sasaki, 1929a), the Marshall Islands (Voss, 1954b), north of Hawaii
(Rehder, 1940) and the South Pacific (Pfeffer, 1912).
These squids are caught near the surface a t night and are charac-