Short Communication

 

Squids of the family Onychoteuthidae Gray, 1847 in the southeastern Pacific Ocean

Calamares de la familia Onychoteuthidae Gray, 1847 en el Océano Pacífico suroriental

 

Christian M. Ibáñez¹ & Alina F. Cifuentes-Bustamante¹

¹Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ecología y Recursos Naturales Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile

Corresponding author: Christian M. Ibáñez (ibanez.christian@gmail.com)
Corresponding editor: Cristian Aldea

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ABSTRACT. Hooked squids (Family Onychoteuthidae Gray, 1847) inhabit all oceans of the world except the Arctic. This family is currently comprised of 25 species belonging to seven genera. In the southeastern Pacific Ocean, approximately five onychoteuthid species have been previously identified, but true identity of these taxa is uncertain. We reviewed museum collections, from Chile, United States and New Zealand, and literature to elucidate the presence of hooked squids in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. The present status of the Onychoteuthidae from the southeastern Pacific only includes four species: Onychoteuthis aequimanus, Onykia ingens, Onykia robsoni, and Kondakovia nigmatullini.

Keywords: Onychoteuthidae, Onychoteuthis, Onykia, Kondakovia, hooked squids, Chile.

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RESUMEN. Los calamares ganchudos (Familia Onychoteuthidae Gray, 1847) habitan en todos los océanos excepto en el Ártico. Esta familia está compuesta actualmente de 25 especies pertenecientes a siete géneros. En el Océano Pacífico suroriental, aproximadamente cinco especies de Onychoteuthidae han sido identificadas previamente, pero su estatus taxonómico es incierto. Se revisaron las colecciones de museos de Chile, Estados Unidos y Nueva Zelanda, y la literatura para dilucidar la presencia de calamares con ganchos en el Pacífico suroriental. El estado actual de la familia Onychoteuthidae en esta área incluye solo cuatro especies: Onychoteuthis aequimanus, Onykia ingens, Onykia robsoni y Kondakovia nigmatullini.

Palabras clave: Onychoteuthidae, Onychoteuthis, Onykia, Kondakovia, calamares ganchudos, Chile.

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Hooked squids (family Onychoteuthidae Gray, 1847) inhabit all oceans of the world except the Arctic (Bolstad, 2010). This family is composed of 25 species belonging to seven genera (Bolstad, 2010). In the southeastern Pacific Ocean (SEP), various studies have reported a total of seven onychoteuthid squid species and four genera (Thore, 1959; Roper et al., 1984; Nesis, 1987; Fisher & Hureau, 1988; Rocha et al, 1991; Cardoso, 1991; Alexeyev, 1994; Rocha, 1997; Paredes et al., 1999). More recently, following reviews of specimens from Chilean museums and newer literature, the list has been reduced to five species and three genera (Vega et al., 2001; Vega, 2009; Ibáñez et al., 2009). A complete review of the family has also revealed new species, new records, and new combinations (Bolstad, 2007, 2008, 2010). However, few specimens from the SEP were available for these studies. Herein, we have reviewed the literature and specimens from museum collections to elucidate the true onychoteuthid fauna of the SEP. Historically, the most commonly reported species from the SEP has been Onychoteuthis banksii. However, Bolstad (2008, 2010) recognized that many specimens attributable to this species are incorrectly identified, and O. banksii (sensu stricto) appears to only inhabit the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, it is vital to reassess the Onychoteuthis specimens collected from the SEP.

The present work was based on a review of the museum collections from the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (MNHNCL), Santiago, Chile; Museo Zoológico de la Universidad de Concepción (MZUC), Concepción, Chile; Colección Flora y Fauna, Profesor Patricio Sánchez, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile (SSUC); Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (SBMNH), Santa Barbara, USA; National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, (NIWA), Wellington, New Zealand, and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (NMNZ), Wellington, New Zealand. Description, measurements, and counts followed Roper & Voss (1983). The following abbreviations are used: TL: total length; ML: mantle length; MW: mantle width; HL: head length; HW: head width; AL: arm length 1 to 4R/L; FL: fin length; FW: fin width; TnL: tentacle length; CL: tentacle club length; CS: count of carpal suckers on the tentacle club; MH: count of manus hooks on the tentacle club; TPS: count of terminal pad suckers on the tentacle club.

Systematics

Family: Onychoteuthidae Gray, 1847

Genus: Onychoteuthis Lichtenstein, 1818

Type species: Onychoteuthis aequimanus Gabb, 1868

Material examined: Onychoteuthis ^"banksii" (2 specimens) 70, 98 mm ML (off Valparaiso, southeastern Pacific, 300-400 m depth) MNHNCL 300016. Collected by N. Bahamonde, August 10, 1960. Onychoteuthis "banksii" 70 mm ML (near Eastern Island, caught at surface) MNHNCL 300005. Collected by L. DiSalvo, February 1986.

Comparative material examined: Onychoteuthis aequimanus (3 specimens) 78, 87 and 100 mm ML (Tasman Sea, 37°S, 167°E) NMNZ 160477. Collected in 1960. Onychoteuthis aequimanus mantle damaged (Kermadec Islands, 27°50.8'S, 178°50.2'E, 20 m depth) NMNZ 074466. Collected June 18, 1976. Onychoteuthis aequimanus 150 mm ML (23°17.2'S, 173°1.5'E) NMNZ 181412. Collected in May 2005. Onychoteuthis cf. aequimanus 91 mm ML (40.51°S, 178.2°E, 100 m depth) NIWA 32754. Collected in February 1998.

Description. Small squids (ML 70-106 mm), arms medium length (29-57% Ml) (Fig. 1). Head with 9-10 nucal folds (Fig. 2). Fins rhombic, length about half of mantle length (52-59% ML). Gladius visible along anterior mantle zone. Arms with two sucker rows; tentacle club length 22-34% ML, with 21-22 large hooks, 8 carpal suckers, and 14-16 terminal pad suckers (Fig. 1, Table 1).

Figure 1. Onychoteuthis aequimanus MNHNCL 1954-2.
a) Complete specimen, ML 106 mm, b) Club, 29 mm.

Figure 2. Detail of head, eye and nucal folds of
Onychoteuthis aequimanus MNHNCL 1954-2.
Complete specimen, ML 106 mm.

 

Table 1. Measurements (mm) and counts of onychoteuthid squids. For abbreviations see text,
incomplete or damaged.

 

Genus: Onykia Lesueur, 1821

Subgenus: Onykia (Moroteuthopsis) Pfeffer, 1908

Type species: Onykia (Moroteuthopsis) ingens (Smith, 1881)

Material examined: "Moroteuthis" ingens (3 specimens) 93, 87, 90 mm ML (southern Chile, 55°29'S, 70°03W, 350-357 m depth) MNHNCL 5747. Collected by S. Avilés & P. Ojeda, December 3, 1977. "Moroteuthis" ingens 380 mm ML (southern Chile, 52°06'S, 75°47W) MNHNCL 5805. Collected November 22, 1977.

Comparative material examined: Onykia ingens 178 mm ML (Campbell Plateau, 52°26'S, 170°31'E, 480-482 m depth) NMNZ 074116. Collected January 18, 1977. Onykia ingens 115 mm ML (Bounty Plateau, 47°40.68'S, 178°0.72'E, 840 m depth) NMNZ 118344. Collected December 9, 1990. Onykia ingens 170 mm ML (43.06°S, 175.64°E, 460 m depth) NIWA32754. Collected October 7, 1996.

Description. Large squids (ML 87-380 mm) (Fig. 3). Mantle muscular, rugose, with small, fleshy, irregular 'warts' over all surfaces (Fig. 4). Arms long with two sucker rows (61-97% ML). Fins broad, smooth, rhombic, length about half of mantle length (46-57% ML); tentacle club narrow (Fig. 5), length 29-35% ML, with 25-28 large hooks, 12 carpal suckers, and 13-17 terminal pad suckers (Fig. 2, Table 1).

Figure 3. Onykia ingens MNHNCL 5747. a) Complete
specimen, ML 93 mm, b) Club, 27 mm, c) carpal suckers,
d) manus suckers.

Figure 4. Detail of mantle warts of Onykia ingens
MNHNCL 5747. Complete specimen, ML 93 mm.

Figure 5. Detail of tentacle club of Onykia ingens
MNHNCL 5747. Complete specimen, ML 93 mm.

 

Genus: Onykia Lesueur, 1821

Subgenus: Onykia (Onykia) Lesueur, 1821

Type species: Onykia (Onykia) robsoni (Adam, 1962)

Material examined: "Moroteuthis" robsoni 380 mm ML (off Los Vilos, central Chile, 32°S, 450 m depth) MNHNCL 1950.

Comparative material examined: Onykia robsoni 265 mm ML (42.83°S, 177.2°E, 809 m depth) NIWA 32750. Collected July 21, 1995.

Description. Large squid (380 mm ML) (Fig. 6). Mantle fleshy, spindle-shaped, narrow cone over posterior (Fig. 6). Dorsal and ventral surfaces of mantle studded with, well-separated, blister-like warts (Fig. 7). Fin length about half of mantle length (55% ML). Arms longs with two sucker rows (55-75% ML); tentacle club length 38% ML, with 25-27 large hooks, 9-19 carpal suckers, and 12-13 terminal pad suckers (Fig. 6, Table 1).

Figure 6. Onykia robsoni MNHNCL 1950. a) Complete
specimen, ML 380 mm, b) Club 118 mm.

Figure 7. Detail of mantle warts of Onykia robsoni
MNHNCL 1950. Complete specimen, ML 380 mm.

 

Genus: Kondakovia Filippova, 1972

Type species: Kondakovia longimana

Kondakovia nigmatullini Laptikhovsky, Arkhipkin & Bolstad, 2008

Material examined: Kondakovia "longimana" 62 mm ML (44°44'S, 68°20'W) MNHNCL 841. Collected April 24, 1984.

Description. Small squid (62 mm ML), arms long with two sucker rows (64-87% ML). Fin broadly rhombic and short (29% ML); tentacle club length 30% ML, with 27 large hooks, 12 carpal suckers, two complete series of marginal suckers and 12-21 terminal pad suckers (Fig. 8, Table 1). Mantle head and arms with reticulated skin sculpture (Fig. 8).

Figure 8. Kondakovia nigmatullini MNHNCL 841.
a) Dorsal view, ML 62 mm, b) ventral view.

 

In the southeastern Pacific Ocean (SEP), onychoteuthid squids are poorly represented in regional and international collections, and holdings represent only four species. We reported the presence of four species based on museum collections and an examination of the literature. The genera Onykia and Kondakovia in the SEP are distributed in cold waters of the southern Ocean down to 30°S, while Onychoteuthis is common in warmer oceanic waters from 30°N to 30°S (Ibáñez et al., 2009; Bolstad, 2010).

Previous reports of O. "banksii" in Peru and Chile (Thore, 1959; Cardoso, 1991; Rocha, 1997; Paredes et al, 1999; Vega et al, 2001; Ibáñez et al, 2009; Vega, 2009) probably correspond to O. aequimanus. Specimens of this species from ML 100-350 mm are common in stomach contents of swordfish (Xiphias gladius) in oceanic waters off Chile between 32°S-8°S and 80°W-5°W (Ibáñez et al., 2004; Castillo et al., 2007). The three specimens of O. aequimanus from MNHNCL represents a new distribution record for this species.

Squids identified as "Moroteuthis" from MNHNCL belong to the genus Onykia. Onykia ingens inhabits the continental shelf of Chile, from 42°S southward in cold waters of Antarctic origin deeper than 300 m (Ibáñez et al., 2009). Alexeyev (1994) found one juvenile specimen of O. ingens at 39°04'S, 93°50'W. This species has been reported in stomach contents of Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) from the continental slope (>500 m) of southern Chile (43°S) (Murillo et al., 2008). Onykia robsoni, in Chile, is distributed in more northern waters than O. ingens, from 32°S southward. In addition, Alexeyev (1994) found several juvenile specimens of O. robsoni between 35°and 0°S.

Kondakovia longimana has been reported from stomach contents of hoki (Macruronus novaezelandiae) and southern hake (Merluccius australis) in southern Chile (52°S, 76°W) at 300 m depth (Rocha et al., 1991). This squid has also been reported from stomach contents of Patagonian toothfish (D. eleginoides) from the continental slope (>500 m) of southern Chile (43°S) (Murillo et al., 2008). The only museum specimen (MNHNCL 841) of K. "longimana" examined herein corresponds to a juvenile of K. nigmatullini. It is likely that all records in Chile of K. longimana from stomach contents, for example, correspond to a K. nigmatullini. This specimen represents a new distribution record for this species in addition to type material (holotype and paratype) collected near to Falkland Islands (Laptikhovsky et al., 2008).

Rocha (1997) included Filippovia knipovitchi (Filippova, 1972) in Chilean waters based on the Southern Ocean distribution reported by Fisher & Hureau (1988), but we did not find this species represented in the present material.

We don't found any Onychoteuthid squid from Chile or Peru in the collections of NIWA, NMNZ, SSUC, MZUC and SBNH, only in MNHNCL. Onychoteuthid squids from the southeastern Pacific Ocean have been poorly studied and it is likely that more species from another genera such as Notonykia and Filippovia are also present in these waters. During the development of this work we found three specimens of Notonykia sp. (identified by K. Bolstad) at 280 km off central Chile (34.09°S, 75.08°W).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank Sergio Letelier, Bruce Marshall and Sadie Mills for their help in examining specimens from the MNHNCL (Santiago, Chile), NMNZ (Wellington, New Zealand) and NIWA (Wellington, New Zealand). We thank Kathrin Bolstad and Heather Braid (Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand) for the comments in the manuscript. This work was partially funded by FONDECYT 3110152.

 

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Received: 21 January 2015;
Accepted: 27 March 2016