A Female Giant Squid (Architeuthis) Stranded on the Aberdeenshire Coast

/. Moll Stud. (1998), 64,489-492 © The Malacological Society of London 1998

RESEARCH NOTES

A female giant squid (Architeuthis) stranded on the Aberdeenshire coast

Martin A. Collins Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mollus/article/64/4/489/981304 by guest on 28 September 2021 Zoology Department, Aberdeen University, TiUydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB242TN e-mail: [email protected]

Cephalopods include the largest and arguably most On Sunday January 18th 1998 a large squid was advanced of the invertebrates. Of the cephalopods spotted on the beach at Newburgh, north of the real giants are squid belonging to the genus Aberdeen. The weather was cold, with snow lying on Architeuthis. These giant squid have been the subject the beach at low water. The tentacle club was of considerable interest and speculation in popular brought to the university where it was identified as literature, but the scarcity of whole specimens means belonging to an Architeuthis. On the beach the squid that very little is known about their biology, distribu- was found to be in good condition, partially covered tion or systematics. Although commonly occurring in in snow and with some of the skin and arm tips lost the diet of sperm whales1 giant squid are rarely Total length, mantle length (ML) and arm lengths caught in nets and only occasionally stranded on were measured in situ on the beach. The head and beaches. There have been only fourteen recorded tentacles were then separated from the mantle to strandings and eight captures of Architeuthis around enable the squid to be carried from the beach. The the coast of Britain and Ireland (Table 1, Figure 1) squid was then transported to the university in and hence any new records are of interest This note Aberdeen for more detailed measurements (Table reports on a specimen stranded on the beach at 2). Newburgh north of Aberdeen in January 1998. In the laboratory detailed morphological measure-

Table 1. Details of Architeuthis strandings and captures around the British Isles.

Number Date Area ML Sex Capture Ref. (mm) method

1 1673 Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland Stranded 5 2 1860 Hillswick, Shetland - Stranded 7,5 3 25/4/1875 Boffin Island Caught 5 4 Oct1880 County Clare Stranded 5 5 1913 Bellmullet, Ireland Sperm whale 5 6 2/11/1917 Skateraw, Berwickshire - - Stranded 8 7 1918 Kilkeel, Co. Clare, Ireland Stranded 5 8 Feb 1920 North Uist, Outer Hebrides - Stranded 9 9 1921 Wick, Moray Firth - - Stranded 10, 11 10 24/0/30 East Lothian 1422 Stranded 3 11 14/01/33 Scarborough 1664 Stranded 12 12 07/01/37 Bell Rock, off Arbroath Caught 13 13 02/10/49 Whalefirth Voe, Shetland -1200 Stranded 14 14 30/11/49 Nigg Bay, Aberdeen 1170 (F) Stranded 15 15 14/12/51 Easthaven, Angus 1459 Stranded 16,5 16 01/02757 Rattray Head 940 Trawl 3 17 19/11/77 North Berwick 1610 F Stranded 11 18 08/01/84 Cove Bay, Aberdeen 1750 F Stranded 17 19 29/01/86 Scottish coast 1450 Trawl 17 20 05/03/87 Off Shetland Islands 1100 Trawl 18 21 26/04/95 W Aran Islands 1028 M Trawl 19 22 24/06/95 Porcupine Bank 975 M Trawl 19 23 25/06/95 SWAran Islands 1084 M Trawl 19 24 18/01/98 Newburgh 1230 F Stranded This paper 490 RESEARCH NOTES

Architeuthis records from around the British Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mollus/article/64/4/489/981304 by guest on 28 September 2021 Isles RESEARCH NOTES 491 Figure 1. Map of the British Isles illustrating the approximate location of stranded and trawl caught Archi- teuthis. The numbers on the figure relate to the records listed in Table 1. Record 19 is missing since the precise location of capture is not known.

Table 2. Morphological details of the giant squid {Architeuthis) stranded at Newburgh in January 1988. *arm not complete

Dorsal mantle length (mm) 1230

Total length (mm) 4660 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mollus/article/64/4/489/981304 by guest on 28 September 2021 Total weight (kg) 38.5 Girth (mm) 738 Mantle weight (kgs) 12.1 Mantle thickness (mm) 23.4 Head length (mm) 1310 Head width (mm) 230 Eye diameter (mm) 120 105 Arm lengths (mm) Left Right I 1070 935* II 800* 935* III 850* 1210* IV 850* 660* Arm thickness (mm) Width Depth I 32 52 II 45 44 III 58 75 IV 69 68 Tentacle length (mm) 3240 Fin width (mm) 354 Fin length (including tail) (mm) 482 (550) Gill lamellae 61 62 Ovary weight (g) 111 Nidamental gland length (mm) 21 Nidamental gland weight (g) 24 ments were taken, together with photographs of the tion for accepting more than one species {A. dux) key features. The finwa s oval in shape, with a short being present in the North Atlantic*. Consequently tail extending posteriorly. The squid was dissected by until the details of the genus have been established it making a mid-ventral incision along the mantle and is important that detailed measurements are taken the internal organs exposed. The specimen was an from all specimens and that, if possible, the speci- immature female, the nidamental glands were very mens are preserved. small, although the oviducts were well developed. The distribution and habitat of Architeuthis are The ovary was relatively small (Table 2) and feathery largely unknown. Many of the early records of Archi- in appearance. There was no evidence of sperma- teuthis from around the British Isles lack detail tophores being attached beneath the skin of the arms (Table 1), and it is possible that one or two of the as was found in a specimen of Architeuthis caught off early records refer to other species of large squid'. Australia in 19962. The stomach was filledonl y with a Most of the strandings of Architeuthis from the brown liquid, there were no solid food remains pre- British Isles, and the trawl captures around Scotland sent. are from the winter months (November-March) Given the immaturity of this specimen it is likely (Table 1). It would thus appear that there is a that it would have grown considerably larger, had it strongly seasonal influence on the occurrence of Architeuthis. Interestingly most of the strandings in survived. It was considerably smaller than previous 4 female Archiieuthis stranded in the area (Table 1). Newfoundland occur from September to November . Male Architeuthis typically mature at, and probably It has been suggested that the seasonal occurrence of strandings is caused by cold winter temperatures have smaller final size, than females. 6 The taxonomy of the Architeuthis genus is con- causing paralysis of the squid . However if Archi- fused, with four species potentially recorded in the teuthis inhabit deep water they are unlikely to North Atlantic of which two species A. dux and A. encounter much variation in temperature. The clarkei were though to occur in the NE Atlantic3. strandings may, instead, indicate a migration into Many of the features used to separate these putative more northerly waters during the winter months. The species are plastic and there is currently no justifica- fact that Architeuthis are more important in sperm 492 RESEARCH NOTES whale diets around the Azores' than in more 6. CLARKE, M.R. 1966. Adv. Mar. Biol., 4: 91-399. northerly areas does suggest that much of the life- 7. JEFFREYS, J.G. 1869. British Conchology. cycle is spent further south probably in water deeper 8. RICHIE, J. 1918. Scot. Nat., 69:133-139. than 500 m. 9. RICHIE, J. 1920. Scot. Nat, 71: 57. The remains of the squid are preserved at the 10. RITCHIE, J. 1922. Rep. Brit. Ass. Advmt. 5c/,: 423. Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh. Thanks to 11. HEPPELL, D. & SMITH, S.M. 1983. Recent Oscar Campbell who found the squid on the beach Cephalopoda in the collections of the Royal and to Heather Daly and Shirley Hughes who helped Scottish Museum. collect and dissect it. 12. ROBSON, G.C. 1933. Proc ZooL Soc Lond., 3: 681-697. 13. STEPHEN, A.C. 1937. Scot. Nat.: 131-132. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mollus/article/64/4/489/981304 by guest on 28 September 2021 REFERENCES 14. STEPHEN, A.C. 1950. Scot. Nat., 6Z: 52-53. 15. RAE, B.B. 1950. Proc. Make. Soc. Lond. 28: 163- 1. CLARKE, M.R. 1996. Phil Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. 167. B3S1:1053-1065. 16. STEPHEN, A.C. 1952. Scot. NaL, 65:120-121. 2. NORMAN, M.D. & Lu, C.C. 1997. Nature, 389: 17. BOYLE, P.R. 1986. J. Moll Stud., 52: 81-82. 683-684. 18. JOY, J.B. 1989. The fishery biology of ommas- 3. STEPHEN, A.C. 1962. Proc. R. Soc. Edin., 68:147- trephid squids in Shetland waters. MSc Thesis, 161. University of Aberdeen. 4. ALDRJCH, F.A. 1991. Bull Mar. Set., 49: 457-481. 19. LORDAN, G, COLLINS, M.A. & RAYA, C.P. In 5. HARDY, A.C. 1956. The open sea. The world of press. J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U K. plankton. Collins, London.

Interactions between two species of Donax on a high energy beach: an experimental approach Anton McLachlan Zoology Department, UPE, South Africa and 'College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University P O Box 36, SQU123 Oman

Patterns of abundance and distribution of infaunal the other species. Burrowing ability was selected for invertebrates inhabiting the intertidal zone of high- study since it is easily measured and is a critical energy sandy beaches are generally thought to be attribute of bivalves in exposed sandy beach environ- dictated by physical factors1-2 particularly water ments. movement and sediment properties3. Evidence that The work was carried out over two mornings in biological interactions can also influence the struc- November 1994 during spring low tides by a team of ture of such communities has been elusive4. A single 15 helpers. Holes were excavated in the upper inter- correlative study has provided evidence for intertidal zone down to just above the water table which actions between bivalves based on distributional lay at about 75 cm depth below the surface. In these shifts in one species when the other was eliminated5. holes stainless steel cylinders (each 0.1 m2 or 35.7 cm However, no experimental techniques have been diameter) were sunk into the sand and filled with developed to examine biological interactions in such sand collected and sieved (1 mm mesh) on site to dynamic environments. remove the macrofauna. The cylinders were contin- The experiments reported here test the general ually flushed with fresh sea water carried by bucket. hypothesis that biotic interactions do occur between Samples of the defaunated sand from the cylinders common infaunal species found in South Africa were collected for analysis by settling tube and water beaches. More specifically, they address the question temperature taken with a hand held thermometer. whether interference competition has the potential Both species are abundant on this beach and were to play a role in determining the distribution of beach collected at the site, over the middle and lower inter- species? The objectives of this study were to test tidal. D. serra grows to 75 mm and D. sordidus to 30 whether the burrowing abilities of Donax serra Dill- mm shell length on this beach. wyn and D. Sordidus Hanks on an extremely exposed Donax serra is much larger than D. sordidus and dissipative beach in South Africa, were affected by only individuals in the size range 50-60 mm shell the presence of conspecifics and/or of individuals of length were used, whereas for D. sordidus the size range 15-25 mm shell length was used. These 1 Present address sizes were used both for background densities in the