476 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



cephalopodan fauna of the Mediterranean Sea 

 and the Gulf of Mexico. The Oregon material, 

 both benthic and pelagic, parallels very closely 

 the material from the Mediterranean both in 

 genera and species. Considering the sometimes 

 rather long planktonic life of many of the larval 

 forms and the sweep of the North Equatorial 

 Current into the Caribbean and thence into the 

 Gulf of Mexico, such distribution is not surprising. 

 This close connection is best exemplified by the 

 presence of Pteroctopus tetracirrhus (delle Chiaje), 

 apparently quite common in the Gulf of Mexico, 

 which was known previously only from the 

 Mediterranean Sea and a single record from the 

 Azores, and Scaeurgus unicirrhiis Orbigny, a 

 related genus, which is well known in the Mediter- 

 ranean but not elsewhere in the Atlantic but was 

 recently reported by Voss (1951a) as occm-ring 

 along the southeast Florida coast and presumably 

 in the Gulf of Mexico. 



Pickford (1946) reported the presence of 

 Vampyroteuthis injernalis Chun taken by the 

 Atlantis in 1,480 meters from the Gulf of Mexico. 

 Tlus form has not been found in the Mediter- 

 ranean presumably due to the shallowness of the 

 sill at the Straits of Gibraltar, a factor which 

 does not enter into the discussion of the Gulf of 

 Mexico due to the greater depth of the Yucatan 

 Channel. A discussion of the bathypelagic con- 

 ditions of this species may be found in the above- 

 mentioned paper. 



The extent of the distribution of the Caribbean 

 and Atlantic species into the Gulf of Mexico at 

 the present time is unknown. In the appended 

 list of species known to occur in the Gulf of Mexico 

 those with asterisks have been reported only 

 from the Gulf Stream in the vicinity of Miami or 

 from the Florida Keys. Thus their presence in 

 the Florida Current which sweeps through the 

 southern portion of the Gulf of Mexico must be 

 assumed, yet they have not been reported from 

 the rather extensive hauls made by the Oregon. 

 One species investigated by the author, Sepioteuthis 

 sepioidea (Blain.), is known from both sides of the 

 Gulf Stream from below its origin in the Lesser 

 Antilles to Bermuda, but there is no record of its 

 occurrence in the Gulf of Mexico proper. The 

 cause of this rather peculiar distribution or limita- 

 tion is not known. 



So little is known concerning the life histories of 

 the cephalopods, especially the octopods, in our 



area that only generalities can be drawn. From 

 the literature and independent investigations it 

 seems apparent that the octopods and decapods 

 spawn during the spring, although there are in- 

 dications that some spawning occurs throughout 

 the year. In general, the octopods care for their 

 spawn by brooding over the eggs which are at- 

 tached either singly or in festoons beneath rocks 

 or in old mollusk shells. Certain of the octopods, 

 particularly those with large eggs (10-15 mm.), 

 hatch out fully developed and immediately take up 

 a benthic life. Others with small eggs hatch out as 

 temporary members of the plankton and spend a 

 certain interval of time, from a few days to several 

 weeks or months, in a drifting state after which 

 they settle to the bottom. The decapods, at least 

 for the few examples known, attach their eggs 

 to the bottom either to rocks, algae, or other 

 objects, and leave them uncared for until hatching 

 whence they become part of the temporary plank- 

 ton; others attach their eggs to floating objects 

 at or near the surface. Among many exceptions to 

 these are Vampyroteuthis injernalis Chun which 

 reportedly has free pelagic eggs and Argonauta 

 argo L. in which the minute eggs are retained 

 within the egg case by the female. 



The length of life in cephalopods is uncertain 

 and a matter of some dispute. Verrill (1882) 

 suggests that Loligo pealei LeSueur reaches 

 maturity in about 2 to 3 years. The actual span 

 of life is uncertain but is believed to average, 

 at least in the smaller species, about 2 to 4 years. 



Cephalopods may be either free-swimming open 

 ocean forms such as the Omma=' [;hidae, benthic 

 such as the Octopodinae, ba>l /pelagic as the 

 Vampyroteuthidae and Spirulidae, or planktonic 

 as in the Cranchiidae. In general, the Loliginidae, 

 a group of great commercial importance in some 

 areas of the world and foimd in large numbers in 

 the Gulf of Mexico, are free-swimming forms 

 found in coastal waters never far from land. The 

 food of cephalopods consists mainly of crustaceans, 

 bivalve mollusks, and small fish. In return, they 

 furnish a considerable portion of the diet of many 

 fishes. As many as 24 pairs of beaks of Argonauta 

 argo L. have been taken by the author from the 

 stomach of a single sailfish (Istiophorus) . Springer 

 (personal communication) records sucker disc 

 marks the size of a half dollar on the skin of a 

 young sperm whale taken in the Gulf of Mexico, 

 and a single specimen of Architeuthis sp. badly 



