FOOD 259 



tured off Terceira in 1895 (Joubin, 1895, 1900, p. 70 ff., plates VI and VII): another fragment came 

 from the stomach of a Risso's dolphin captured in the Azores by the Prince of Monaco (Joubin, 1900, 

 p. 70; Richard, 1936, p. 46). The remaining three specimens are reported from Madeira where 

 Mr G. E. Maul, Curator of the Museu Municipal do Funchal, informs me that between 1952 and 

 1954 he identified L. grimaldii once from the vomit of a dying sperm whale and twice from stomach 

 contents at the whaling station of Canical. (See also Rees & Maul, 1956, p. 261.) 



Two further squids complete the species composition of the known squid diet of sperm whales 

 in the Azores. These are Dubioteuthis physeteris Joubin and Ancistrocheirus lesueuri (d'Orbigny & 

 Ferussac), which were not found in the present investigations but were recorded by Joubin (1900, 

 p. 20) from the Terceiran whale which in 1895 yielded four of the six species previously discussed. 



Table 12. Squids recorded from the stomachs of sperm zvhales in the Azores 



Species 

 Histioteuthis bonelliana Ferussac*f 



Cucioteuthis unguiculatus (Molina) 



Tetronychoteuthis dussumierii (d'Orbigny)f 

 Architeuthis sp.f 



Lepidotcuthis grimaldii Joubinf 



Dubioteuthis physeteris JoubinJ 

 Ancistrocheirus lesueuri (d'Orbigny & Ferussac) 

 Loligo forbesi Steenstrup 



* Recorded by Joubin as Histioteuthis Riippelli Verany. 



f Species also recorded from the stomachs of sperm whales in Madeira (Rees & Maul, 1956). 



\ Joubin (1900, p. 102) described Dubioteuthis physeteris from only one mutilated specimen. So I have not followed 

 Appellof who revised it as Architeuthis physeteris (see Pfeffer, 1912, p. 24). 



Table 13. Food. Species composition of squids from stomachs examined at Horta in 1949 



Male whales Female zvhales Totals 



Sperm whales in the Azores are thus known to feed on eight species of squids, and these are for 

 convenience listed in Table 12. Of the eight species the first two are (at least in Fayal) the most 

 important items in the diet. Table 13 shows that, among the squids counted in 1949, Histioteuthis 

 bonelliana is most abundant, numbering 59% of the sample. But in nutritional importance it is 

 secondary to Cucioteuthis unguiculatus which is a much larger, bulkier and heavier squid. 



One might expect sperm whales at the Azores and at Madeira to have similar diets, and, so far, 

 four of the eight squid species listed in Table 12 have also been recorded by Rees & Maul (1956) from 

 whales in Madeira. 



Fish 



In 1949 the remains of large teleost fish were found in four of the twenty-eight stomachs which con- 

 tained food. This incidence (14%) is practically the same as that which I found in the Antarctic 

 season 1947-8, where seven stomachs (13%) contained fish among the fifty-six with food. 



