Hawaiian flying squid Nototodarus hawaiiensis (Cephalopoda: Ommastrephidae) in the Arabian Sea: range extension, age, and growth

• Published in: Marine Biodiversity
• Main Authors: Sajikumar, K K, Laxmilatha, P, Vargheese, Sneha, Pranav, P, Venkatesan, V, Vidya, R, Alloycious, P S, Justin Joy, K M, Sasikumar, Geetha
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 2023
• Subjects: age and growth; Cephalopods; Molluscan Fisheries; DML
• Online Access: http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/16655/; http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/16655/1/Marine%20Biodiversity_2023_Sajikumar%20K%20K.pdf; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12526-022-01325-w; https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-022-01325-w

The oceanic cephalopod fauna of the Arabian Sea has not been well studied. The Hawaiian flying squid Nototodarus hawaiiensis (Oegopsida: Ommastrephidae) is known to have a very broad, disjunct distribution in tropical to subtropical waters. In the present study, the squid Nototodarus hawaiiensis is reported for the first time from the Arabian Sea. Five females ranging in size from 62 to 128 mm dorsal mantle length (DML) were collected. Age estimates based on the statolith-increment analysis ranged from 79 to 132 days, with growth rates ranging from 0.78 to 0.99 (mean = 0.93) mm DML/day. Back-calculated hatch dates occurred from November to January. Stomach-content analysis revealed that the dominant prey was crustaceans.