A review of cephalopods (Phylum: Mollusca) of the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem (Central-East Atlantic, African coast)

An extensive review of cephalopod fauna in the Central and North Atlantic coast of Africa was performed based on material collected during 10 research cruises in these waters. In the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME) area, a total of 378,377 cephalopod specimens was collected from 1247 bottom trawl stations. Of those specimens, 300 were sampled for subsequent identification in the laboratory and found to belong to 65 different species and 23 families. After an exhaustive review of the existing literature on the cephalopods and new data obtained from the surveys, an updated checklist of 138 species was generated for the CCLME area. Our knowledge of the known geographic distribution ranges of several species has been expanded: Muusoctopus januarii has been sighted from Guinea–Bissau waters, passing through Western Sahara, to Morocco waters for the first time; Lepidoteuthis grimaldii and Octopus salutii have been sighted off Morocco waters for the first time; Austrorossia mastigophora, Abralia (Heterabralia) siedleckyi, Abralia (Pygmabralia) redfieldi and Sepiola atlantica have been cited off Western Sahara waters for the first time; Magnoteuthis magna, Abralia (Asteroteuthis) veranyi and Octopoteuthis megaptera have been sighted off Moroccan and Western Sahara waters for the first time; Ancistroteuthis lichtensteinii, Opisthoteuthis grimaldii, Onykia robsoni, Muusoctopus levis and Bathypolypus valdiviae have been cited in the Guinea–Bissau coast for the first time; the northern geographic limit of Bathypolypus ergasticus has been expanded to Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania and southward to Guinea–Bissau waters. The presence of Muusoctopus johnsonianus in Senegalese waters has been reported for the first time. A Chtenopteryx sicula specimen was reported in Western Sahara waters. A specimen belonging to the poorly known Cirrothauma murrayi species was found in South Moroccan waters. Amphitretus pelagicus, a probably cosmopolitan species, has been reported in the Western Sahara and Guinea–Bissau waters. Some species that were previously recorded in the area, Sepia angulata, Sepia hieronis, Heteroteuthis dagamensis, Helicocranchia joubini and Tremoctopus gelatus, were removed from the final checklist and considered to be not present in the CCLME area. Cycloteuthis akimushkini was substituted with Cycloteuthis sirventi, its senior synonym, in the final checklist. Similarly, Mastigoteuthis flammea and Mastigoteuthis grimaldii were substituted with Mastigoteuthis agassizii.

Description of a new sepioline species, Sepiola boletzkyi sp. nov. (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae), from the Aegean Sea

A new sepioline species, Sepiola boletzkyi sp. nov. (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae), is described based on two specimens from the Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean). The type specimens are lodged in the Ege University Faculty of Fisheries Museum of Izmir (Turkey). The new species belongs to the Sepiola atlantica group sensu Naef, hence it is compared with the species in this group, namely Sepiola affinis, Sepiola atlantica, Sepiola bursadhaesa, Sepiola intermedia, Sepiola robusta, Sepiola rondeletii, Sepiola steenstrupiana and Sepiola tridens. The male of S. boletzkyi sp. nov. differs from all the others in having the combination of homomorphous ventral arm tips, eight enlarged suckers, subdivided into two groups, in the dorsal row of the distal part of the hectocotylus and a dorsal lobe complementing the copulatory apparatus. In females of S. boletzkyi sp. nov. the bursa copulatrix is large and, unlike all other species in the genus, has a large fungiform process towards the mantle wall. The discovery of S. boletzkyi sp. nov. increases to 12 the number of NE Atlantic-Mediterranean species of Sepiola.

Distribution of deep-water benthic and bentho–pelagic cephalopods from the north-east Atlantic

The distribution of deep-water (150–4850 m) benthic and bentho–pelagic cephalopods in the north-east Atlantic is described, based on 592 specimens collected from commercial and research trawling. Thirty-six different species of cephalopod belonging to 14 families were identified, though problems remain with the taxonomy of some of the octopod genera. At the shallower depths (150–500 m) sepiolids were the most abundant group with five species identified. Sepiola atlantica, Sepietta oweniana and Rondeletiola minor were restricted to the shallow depths (<300 m), but Neorossia caroli (400–1535 m) and Rossia macrosoma (205–515 m) extended into deeper water. The squids Todaropsis eblanae and Loligo forbesi were also common in shallow areas (<250 m). Among the incirrate octopods, Eledone cirrhosa was found at depths of 208–490 m. Three putative species of Benthoctopus and two of Bathypolypus were identified occupying depths of 250–2700 m. Graneledoneverrucosa was caught at depths of 1785–2095 m. Cirrate octopods dominated the cephalopod catch from the deeper areas, with Opisthoteuthis massyae occurring from 877 to 1398 m, O. grimaldii from 2165 to 2287 m, Stauroteuthissyrtensis from 1425 to 3100 m, Cirroteuthismuelleri from 700 to 4854 m, Cirrothauma murrayi from 2430 to 4850 m and Grimpoteuthis (five putative species) from 1775 to 4877 m. Abundance estimates of the more frequently caught species were calculated from swept areas of trawls and sledges in the Porcupine Seabight and on the Porcupine Abyssal Plain.

Ecology of Sepiola Atlantica (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) in the Shallow Sublittoral Zone

The ecology of the sepiolid Sepiola atlantica in Firemore Bay, Loch Ewe, on the west coast of Scotland was investigated by beam trawling surveys. Low densities of this species were present in the shallow sublittoral zone of the sandy bay. A size range of 4–21 mm dorsal mantle length (DML) was obtained, with no significant differences detected between the mean sizes of males and females. Males reached gonadal maturity slightly earlier and at a slightly smaller size than females. Sepiola atlantica was present in the bay in each of the months in which sampling took place suggesting a resident population, the structure of which varied considerably. Juveniles were found over a prolonged period of the year but peak recruitment (animals of 4–10 mm DML) was in May and July. Animals <4 mm DML were not caught and no egg masses were found in the trawls. In aquarium conditions, S. atlantica fed on live crustaceans such as mysids, Crangon crangon and Palaemon serratus, although Corophium volutator, an estuarine crustacean not normally found in the marine sandy bay, was the most accepted food.