engleski

A rare find in the Eastern Adriatic sea: Ommastrephes caroli (Cephalopoda: Ommastrephidae)

In September of 2020, 23 juveniles of neon flying squids were collected in the central eastern Adriatic Sea (the island of Palagruža (N=14), the island of Jabuka (N=1) and the Korčula Channel (N=8)), presenting rare opportunity to study these cephalopods. The dorsal mantle length of the specimens ranged from 65 to 152 mm and body weight from 7.6 to 89.8 g. The partial sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene was determined and phylogenetic analyses confirmed that collected squids were Ommastrephes caroli (Furtado, 1887). The genus Ommastrephes d'Orbigny has been for many years considered a monotypic cosmopolitan genus with a discontinuous distribution, however recently four species have been erected within this genus using molecular tools. So far, there were only four reported records of this species in the Adriatic Sea. The analyzed individuals shared similar haplotypes as those from both the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic. The analysis of statolith growth increments estimated the age of individuals to range from 36 to 71 days (average of 49.3 days). The results of back-calculation indicate that the spawning of this species occurs during the warmer, spring-summer period. Considering the size of caught individuals, Adriatic Sea could represent a potential feeding ground for this species.

neon flying squid, morphology, age, statoliths, COI

nije evidentirano