Family HISTIOTEUTHIDAE

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Family HISTIOTEUTHIDAE

Compiler and date details

C.C. Lu, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan

Introduction

Members of the monogeneric family Histioteuthidae Verrill, 1881 are medium to large squid (less than 350 mm mantle length (ML)). The family is readily distinguished by many large, anteriorly directed, light organs over the surface of the mantle, head and arms, more concentrated on the ventral surface. Adult histioteuthids have the head large and the left eye considerably larger than the right (N. Voss 1969).

Berry (1918) described the first histioteuthid from Australian waters, Histioteuthis miranda, from a single adult specimen trawled off Gabo Island, Victoria. Larvae of this species were later reported from the New South Wales coast by Allan (1945) and additional species were recognised from the Tasman Sea by N. Voss (1969). Histioteuthid remains of at least eight species were identified from among the stomach contents of sperm whales from south-western Australia and the Tasman Sea (Clarke 1980; Clarke & MacLeod 1982). Lu & Phillips (1985) listed ten taxa including one subspecies from Australian waters. Worldwide, 17 taxa are recognised, including 13 species, one with two and one with four subspecies (N. Voss et al. 1998).

The function of the peculiar modification to the eyes was reviewed by Young (1975). The larger eye, which in contrast to its smaller partner is tubular rather than hemispherical, is believed to function primarily at depth during the day detecting down-welling light. In some specimens, the left eye may be twice the size of the right.

The mantle of most species of Histioteuthis d'Orbigny is relatively short, broad and conical and, like the rest of the body, is typically somewhat gelatinous. Histioteuthids are known to be neutrally buoyant (Clarke et al. 1979).

The photophore pattern on the mantle, head and arms, and the presence of enlarged terminal photophores on the arms, are species specific characters and may be used in ventral countershading (Young 1975). No internal light organs are present. A gradation is evident between species in the development of a web connecting the inner margins of the arms; in Histioteuthis macrohista and H. bonnellii the web connects along more than 50% of the arm length. Young (1983) has suggested that the web may conceal the luminescence of struggling prey. In H. meleagroteuthis and H. miranda, a row of small tubercles is present below the epithelium of the midline of the anterior mantle and the basal half of the first three arms (Roper & Lu 1990), becoming less apparent with growth.

Spermathecae are unknown among histioteuthids. Spermatophores were found embedded in the inner surface of the funnel of a female Histioteuthis atlantica recovered from a sperm whale caught off Albany, Western Australia (Clarke 1980). Mature eggs of H. miranda have a maximum diameter of 0.8 mm.

Little is known about the life history studies of the members of this family. Clarke (1980) found mature female H. miranda among the stomach contents of sperm whales caught off Albany in November and December, but concluded from size frequency data that spawning was likely to occur throughout the year. Maturity is reached at ML approximately 200 to 250 mm in this species off the eastern Australian coast. Clarke (1980) concluded that H. meleagroteuthis probably has a life span of less than two years and, from the degenerate condition of the bodies of some specimens, that death occurs soon after spawning.

From the occurrence of beaks in sperm whale stomachs, Clarke (1980) inferred that histioteuthids are schooling species. Although the family is considered to be primarily mesopelagic (N. Voss 1969), frequently H. celetaria pacifica and H. miranda have been caught in deepwater lobster trawls at depths of 300 to 600 m off the North West Shelf and Great Barrier Reef, suggesting that they are associated with the bottom during part of their life cycle.

Histioteuthids are important in the diets of sperm whales (Clarke 1983) and also form part of the diets of yellowfin and albacore tuna, scabbard fish, lancetfish, spotted dolphin (Rancurel 1970; Wolff 1982; Roper et al. 1984) and perhaps albatrosses (Clarke 1983). In turn, adult histioteuthids are omnivorous with fish predominating in their diets (N. Voss 1969; Clarke 1980).

Off Hawaii, Histioteuthis dofleini shows both diel vertical migration and ontogenetic descent. Small squid occur at depths of between 200 and 300 m during the night, descending to 400 to 700 m during the day. Larger adults have been caught at depths of up to 800 m and only occasionally deeper (Young 1975). Other species are more common in waters of 2000 m and only rarely are captured in the upper 200 m (N. Voss 1969).

The five histioteuthid species collected in the Australasian region were considered by Nesis (1979) to be primarily tropical and subtropical/notalian. Of the tropicaltaxa, H. celetaria pacifica was considered to be restricted to waters north of 30°S, H. meleagroteuthis to be more eurythermal, occurring as far as 38°S, and H. dofleini even more so, occurring as far south as 44°. The subtropical/notalian H. atlantica and H. macrohista reportedly occur between 35° and 50°S, with greatest abundances between 40° and 45°S. Clarke (1980) examined the depth distribution of three histioteuthid species as indicated by their abundance in the diets of sperm whales taken in different depths off the South African coast. Histioteuthis miranda was most abundant in water depths of less than 1000 m, H. atlantica in waters of between 1000 and 2500 m, and H. bonnellii corpuscula Clarke (= H. bonnellii (Férussac)) in depths of more than 2000 m.

Diagnosis

Histioteuthids are characterised by a simple, straight funnel locking apparatus, biserial unmodified toothed suckers on the arms and between four and eight rows of suckers on the tentacular clubs. The family is readily distinguished by the many large anteriorly directed light organs over the surface of the mantle, head and arms, even more concentrated on the ventral surface. Buccal connectives attach to the dorsal border of the ventral arms, and in males both the dorsal arms are usually hectocotylised.