Lipid content, lipid class and fatty acid composition of four Southern Ocean cephalopod species –
the myopsid Sepioteuthis australis and three oegopsids, Gonatus antarcticus, Moroteuthis robsoni and
Todarodes spp. – were analysed. The lipid content of the digestive gland was consistently greater than that of
the mantle, and was an order of magnitude greater in oegopsid species. The lipid class and fatty acid
composition of the mantle and digestive gland also differed markedly in each species. Digestive gland lipid
is likely to be of dietary origin, and large amounts of lipid in the digestive gland of oegopsids may
accumulate over time. Thus the digestive gland is a rich source of fatty acid dietary tracers and may provide
a history of dietary intake. However, the absolute amount of dietary lipid in the digestive gland of oegopsid
species exceeds the absolute lipid content of mantle tissue. Therefore the overall lipid “signature” of an
oegopsid may more closely resemble its prey species rather than its mantle tissue. When lipid techniques are
used in dietary analysis of teuthophagous predators, squid may not be represented by a unique signature in
analyses and their importance in the diets of predators may be underestimated.