FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL 79. NO 4 



Family: Argonautidae Naef 1912 



Genus: Argonauta Linnaeus 1758 

 Species: Argonauta sp. 



Octopod remains were limited to a single occur- 

 rence of each of two species, both taken from the 

 same stomach. Remaining cephalopods consisted 

 of squid of the suborder Oegopsida. Of these, 

 the genus Illex was predominant (Figure 4). His- 

 tioteuthis was second most common based on 

 number of individuals, followed by equal numbers 

 of Ommastrephes pteropus and Onychoteuthis 

 banksii. Following these, in decreasing frequency 



of occurrence were Thysanoteuthis rhombus and 

 Cranchia scabra. There were single records of 

 Ornithoteuthis antillarum, Tetronychoteuthis 

 massyae, Ancistrocheirus lesueuri, Ctenopteryx 

 sicula, and Architeuthis sp. Because Ommas- 

 trephes pteropus and Thysanoteuthis rhombus 

 reach large sizes, their contribution to prey 

 biomass was more important than reflected by 

 number of individuals. 



Comparison of prey composition and quantity 

 relative to swordfish sex, size, capture method, 

 hookup time, and time of year did not reveal 

 any correlations. 



Table l. — Diversity and abundance (number of individuals) of cephalopod remains in the stomach contents oi^ Xiphias 



gladius. 



Order Teuthoidea 



Order 

 Octopoda 



Other cephalopod remains 



Fish 

 no.' 



a 



03 Q 



E o 

 O a. 



£ E 

 o S 

 £ TO 

 c 5 



6 TO 



o 



o c 



to <u 



c: « 



O .- 

 O-Q 



3 



3 



I o I 



I'D I 



o 



o 





-Q 

 CD 



o 



C 



m 

 6 



Q. 





3 



n: 



c 

 o 



o 



CO 



n 



E 

 E 



11 

 Od. 



Total 



1 



2 



3 



4 



5 



6 



7 



8 



9 

 10 

 11 

 12 

 13 

 14 

 15 

 16 

 17 

 18 

 19 

 20 

 21 

 22 

 23 

 24 

 25 

 26 

 27 

 28 

 29 

 30 

 31 

 32 

 33 

 34 

 35 

 36 

 37 

 38 

 39 

 40 

 41 

 42 

 43 



15 

 7 



10 

 2 

 3 



13 

 1 



27 



28 

 1 

 1 

 2 

 1 



1 

 2 



15 

 8 



13 



9 



14 



12 



2 



5 



10 

 5 



2 

 13 



17 



7 

 10 



17 



768 



