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ICES THEME SESSION ON NON-TARGET SPECIES, PAPER C.M. 1994/0:4

" , .' DISTRIBUTION AND BIOLOGY OF.NON~COMMERCIAL,CEPHALOPOD SPECIES FROH THE NORTHEASTERN CONTINENTAL SHELF OF THE UNITED STATES Miehael veechione1, clyde F~E. Roper2 , arid Kym Jaekson2 .. 1National Marine Fisheries Serviee/NOAA, ,systematies Laboratory, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, OC. 20560 USA.

20ept. of InvertebrateZoology - Mollusks"National Museum of < Natural History, smithsonian Institution, Washington, OC 20560 USA. , Abstraet:-In addition to the eommereially important long~ finned and short-finned squids, 7 eephalopod speeiesare fairly eommon members of the rieritie fauna between Cape Fear, North Carolina arid Nova seotia. These inelude 2 oetopods, 4 sepiolids, and a loliginid. Numerous speeimens that were eolleeted on the seasonal NMFS groundfish surveys have been deposited in the eolleetions of the National Museum of Natural History. We summarize their seasonal distribution with respeet to geography. and depth. We also present size and maturity for both sexes and observations on taxonomie eharaeters. . . . Introduetion. Two squid speeies are eommerelaily harvested off the northeasterri eoast of the united States, the l6ng-finned squid Loligo pealei Lesueur 1821, and the short-finned squid Illex illeeebrosus (Lesueur 1821). The biology and eeology of these squids has been studied fairly intensively over the yeais. However, other cephalopods from this region have largely been riegleeted sinee A.E. Verrill's (1880, 1881) monographie works~ Otherthan the eommereial squids, seven,neritie eephalopod speeies are eaught with fair regularity off the northeastern U.S. (Veeehione et al., 1989). We report here on the distribution, biology, and life history of these seven non-eommercial speeies based upon speeimens whieh have been eollectedduring the· National Marine Fisheries Serviee(NMFS) groundfish surveys and • deposited in the eolleetions cif the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). oeeanie speeies whieh are sometimes eolleeted over the eoritinental shelf and slope are not ineluded here. Materials and Methods. These specimens all were eolleeted in bottom trawls during the NMFS seasonal groundfish surveys, whieh are repeated annually. The groundfish surveys use a stratified-random strategy to sample hundreds of stations between Cape Fear, North •

Carolina and Nova scotia. Cephalopods other than Loligo and Illex were selected for preservation on eachcruise and were sent to the NMNH to be added,to the National Collections. This material (683 cephalopods in 228 species-lots) was collected from 1975~89. 190 stations on 36 cruises during the years These c stations represent all months except February and December and a . depth range of 8~424 m. station data accompanied all specimens. All specimens were identified, and dorsal mantle length (DML) was measured followingRoper and Voss (1983). The ventral mantles were cut open and sex and maturity were determined~ Examiriation of the mantle cavity anatomy allowed new taxonomie observations ta be made on the difficult arid canfusing bobtailed squids of the family Sepiolidae.

Results~ The octopods (Order octopoda, Fami1y ootopodidae) • 1~ Bathypolypus arcticus (Proseh; 1849) Material examined: 66 mature males, 21-50 mm DMLi 59 . immature males, 9-45 mm DMLi 41 mature females, 30-59 mm DMLi 71 ' immature fema1es, 11-54 mm DML. Most of the B. arcticus specimens came from the Gulf of Maine. Numerous specimens from the Gulf of Maine were found at depths <100 min addition to deeper stations. South of Cape Cod most were at the shelf-break and upper slope (i.e., depths araund 200 m or greater). Both mature and immature males and females were, collected fram March through November. Smaller males tended to be found at shallower depthsand larger males deeper, but no such trend was evident for females~ 2. octopus cf vulgar1s, . . Cuv1er,'.. 1797' , Material examined: 4 mature males, 18-26 mm DMLi 1 mature female; 25 mm DML. , This, sp~cies wasonlycollected south ofCape Hatteras. It was taken on the outer shelf and slope in March, July, and September. . Taxonomie notes: The western Atlantic octopod referred to as octopus vulgaris is one of a complex of very similar species. The true o. vulgaris is from the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic. Resolution of the correct taxonomy of species in this complex, including the western Atlantic species reported here is being pursued by other investigators~ The bobtai1ed squids (Order sepioidea, Fami1y sepioiidae). Rossia megaptera Verrl11, 1881 ..

Material examined: 5 mature males, ,17-35mm DMLi 1 mature female, 34 mm DMLi 1 ,immature female, 23 mm DML. This,speeies,was eolleeted in both shallow and deep stations in the GUlf,of Maine and,on the southern edge of George's Bank in May, Oetober, and November. Taxonomie notes: Anus joined to bifureation of median pallial. adduetor museIe by thin translueent membrane. Anal palps small, without expanded blades. ,Dorsal pad of funnel organ long, with angles and posterior extensions on both sides. Rossia palpebrosa Owen, 1834 , Material examined: 6 mature males, 18-26 mm DMLi 1 mature female, 25 mm DML. Rossia palpebrosa was taken iri April, MaYi Oetober, arid November, but only in the Gulf of Maine, where it was found at both deep and shallow stations. Taxonomie notes: Anus fused with bifurcation of median pallial adductor museIe. Anal flaps long, expanded into leaflike blades. Dorsal pad of funnel organ short, without posterior extensions. semirossia tenera (verriil,,1880) , Material examined: 53, mature males, 10-27 mm DML, 3 immature males, 10-13 mm DMLi 44 mature females, 14-24 mm DMLi This species was eommon aeross the shelf at depths cf 15~180 m from Cape Hatteras to George's Bank. orily one speeimen was taken north of Cape Cod and one south of Cape Hatteras. Mature males and females were found from January through Oetober, but most speeimens were eaught in March and April., Only a few immature individuals of both sexes were eolleeted in March, April, and Oetober. . ,Taxonomie notes: Anus free from bifureation of median pallial adduetor museIe. Anal flaps very long, broadly expanded into leaflike blades. Dorsal pad of ,funnel organ long, with angles and posterior extensions on both sides~

, . . .'" ; ' Stoloteuth1s.'leucoptera (Verr1ll,. ,1878) , , Material examined: 64 mature males, 7';'18, mm DMLi 90 mature females,8-21 mm DMLi 11 immature females, 5-19 mm DMLi 12 juveniles, 5-17 mm DML~" , ' Stoloteuthis leueoptera was very eOmmon in the Gulfof Maine, where it was eolleeted throughout the year; only ,a few speeimens weretaken on the outer shelf and slope south cf Cape Cod. No elear trend of eross-shelf ontogenetic migration was evident for either sex. The inshore squids (Order Teuthoidea, Famiiy LOligin!dae). .. •

Lolliguricula brevis (Blainville, 1823) Material examined: 2 mature males, 55-65 mm DML, 49 immature males, 18~45 mm DMLi 8 mature females, 54-78 mm DMLi 66 immature femalesi 16-58 mm DMLi 16 juveniles; 15-27.mm DML; This euryhaline squid was only found elose to shore in the southern part of the study area in waters 8-31 m deep. A single specimen was collected deeper than 20 m. Lolliguricula brevis was caught north cif Cape Hatteras only in september. In March, July, and september, it was commori south of Cape Hatteras. Discussiori. Another neritic species, the arrowsquid Loligo plei, is caught from Cape Hatteras south. However, this species,often is ncit distinguished from L. pealei at sea because dissection of the gladiusis~equired fo~confident identific~tion; Ttierefore~ no specimeris of L. plei were ineluded iri the present material. It is import~nt,to note.thatatiund~nce isdifficult to assess • from museum collectioris. Selection of, specimens to be preserved ofteri is notrigorously planned. Furttiermore, ove~all sampling effort may vary. Thus, whereas presence of a species iri an area can be weIl documented by a museum specimen,absence. is not as meaningful. Also, numbers of specimens may reflect cipportunities to preserve animals rather than numbers actually collected; For instance, the preponderance of Semirossia tenera specimens collected in March and April may result from peculiarities of sea time or work load at sea. Given ttiese caveats, three cf these species appeared to be common on the continental shelf and slope between Cape Hatteras and.Nova Scotiä; The three are: Bathypolypus arcticus, Semirossia tenera, arid Stolciteuthis leucoptera. Both~. arcticus and~. leucoptera are weIl represented throughout the Gulf of Maine but seem generally restricted to the slopesouth of George's Bank; Semirossia tenera is a shelf species from Cape Cod south. All are small, DML<60 mm. We found little convincing evidence of seasonalityor migratory patterns except for ß.. arcticus, in which the small and immature males tended to be found in shallower waters, and L. brevis, which w~s.6aught north of Cape Hatte~as only during the warmest month, september. The two Rossia species and S. tenera ,can be very difficult to identify. The character which separates these genera is the presence cif a photophore on the ink sacof Semircissia, but,this can be very difficult to find in preserved specimens. However, using ttie combiriation of anal fusion with the median palliäl adductor muscle, size of anal flaps~ and presemce cif, posterior extensions of the dorsal pad of the funnel organ, the three species can be identified consistently; •

Aeknowledgements.--We thank Michael Sweeney for his assistanee with this projeet, and Donald Fleseher for preserving and sending most of the speeimens to the NMNH.

Literature cited. Roper, C.F.E., and G.L. Voss. 1983. Guidelines for taxonomie deseriptions of eephalopod speeies. Mem. Nat. Mus. vietoria 44:49-63. Veeehione, M., C.F.E. Roper, and M.J. Sweeney. 1989. Marine flora and fauna of the eastern united States. Mollusea: Cephalopoda. NOAA Teeh. Rep. NMFS 73:1-23. Verrill, A.E. 1880. The eephalopods of the north-east coast of Ameriea. Part I. The gigantie squids (Arehiteuthis) and their alliesi with observations on similar large speeies from foreign loealities. Trans. Conn. Aead. Sei. 5(5):177-257. Verrill, A.E. 1880. The eephalopods of the north-east eoast of Ameriea. Part II. The smaller eephalopods, ineluding the "squids" and the oetopi, with allied forms. Trans. Conn. Aead. Sei. 5(6):259-446.