FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 71, NO. 1 



CEPHALOPODS AND SCAPHOPODS 



Remains of cephalopods and scaphopods were 

 found in moderate to low densities, were small, 

 and occurred in a relatively limited area. Only a 

 few species of each group were represented in 

 the samples. Illustrations of typical examples 

 are shown in Figure 15. 



Cephalopod remains consisted solely of beaks 

 (jaws or mandibles) of Decapoda (squid). All 



were black and 4 to 6 mm long. The animals 

 from which the beaks came were adults and 

 probably rather small (less than about 10 cm in 

 mantle length). Their uniformity in configu- 

 ration and size suggests that only one or a few 

 species are represented. 



Scaphopod remains consisted only of shells 

 or fragments of shells of a few species of the 

 genus Dentalium (15 to 35 mm long) and one 

 species of the genus Cadulus (mostly 10 to 13 mm 



^•^ 



B 



Figure 15. — Cephalopod mandibles and scaphopod shells from off southeastern Massachusetts. A - cephalopod 

 beaks; B - shells of Cadulus pandionis; C - shells of Dentalium spp. Each scale bar is 5 mm. 



Table 12. — Density of cephalopod beaks and scaphopod 

 shells, by stations. 



long). Many Dentalium shells were inhabited 

 by Sipunculida, whereas Cadulus shells were 

 empty. Unbroken shells recovered from the 

 samples included few of the thin-walled Cadulus 

 but larger numbers of the thick-walled Dental- 

 ium. 



Distribution and Density 



The distribution of cephalopod and scaphopod 

 remains was somewhat limited geographically 

 and densities were low. Quantitative occurrence 

 records for both groups (Table 12), geographic 

 distributions (Figures 16 and 17), and depth 

 of water inhabited (Table 13) , disclose that both 

 groups occur primarily in deep water, only on 

 the continental slope and outer part of the 

 shelf. 



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