■1.5 M 



Figure l. — Pairs of squid formed a semicircle and one pair at a time approached the egg mass. The female and male intertwined arms 

 as they extended them into the egg mass. We surmise that the female was depositing an egg capsule and that the male was exhibiting 

 parental care or "grooming" behavior Water depth was 6 m. 



L.pealei andL. vulgaris held in aquaria. However, 

 comparing the behavior of the animals with that 

 described in literature on squids' reproductive be- 

 havior, we concluded that the females were de- 

 positing egg capsules. They intertwined arms as 

 they extended them into the egg mass. The arms of 

 the male appeared to move delicately over and 

 among the existing fingers of eggs (Figure 1). Each 

 pair that approached the egg mass stayed 2-4 s 

 then moved backward into the same position it had 

 previously occupied in the semicircle. At that time 

 another pair moved forward. There did not appear 

 to be any order in which pairs approached the egg 

 mass; however, no more than one pair approached 

 at any given time. The same pair approached more 

 than once. 



Although most accounts indicate that copula- 

 tion occurs just before egg deposition, our observa- 

 tions cannot substantiate this because egg laying 

 had already commenced. No agonistic behavior 

 which is often associated with reproduction was 

 evident during the 10-min observation period. 



Discussion 



The social hierarchy involving egg deposition 

 differs from species to species. Observations of L. 



946 



opalescens and L. plei in the field indicate that 

 once copulation occurs, individual pairs break 

 apart and the female approaches the egg mass and 

 deposits a capsule alone, although Hurley (1977) 

 did observe an L. opalescens male pushing a 

 female toward an egg mass. Sepioteuthis sepioidea 

 remains paired after copulation, but only the 

 female approaches the egg mass during egg laying 

 (Arnold 1965). Larcombe and Russell (1971) re- 

 ported that S. bilineata also remains paired, but 

 the male escorts the female to the egg mass. How- 

 ever, the male assumes a protective role and fol- 

 lows about 0.5 m behind and above the female so 

 he is between her and the other squid during the 2 

 s period in which she deposits a capsule. In con- 

 trast, L. pealei pairs formed and maintained a 

 semicircle throughout egg laying (Figure 1). One 

 pair at a time approached the egg mass; the male 

 did not appear to assume a protective role, but 

 might have been involved in "grooming" such as 

 Tardent ( 1962) described for L. vulgaris held in an 

 aquarium. Parental care or guarding egg masses 

 has been documented for L. pealei by Stevenson 

 (1934), who noted that both solitary males and 

 pairs patrolled and guarded an egg mass. Similar 

 guarding behavior has also been reported for L. 

 opalescens (Hurley 1977). 



