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New records of the giant squid Architeuthis dux in the southern Indian Ocean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 January 2004

Yves Cherel
Affiliation:
Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UPR 1934 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, BP 14, F-79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France, E-mail: cherel@cebc.cnrs.fr

Abstract

Only one specimen of Architeuthis dux was previously reported from the southern Indian Ocean. The present work adds ten new records of giant squid in the area. Two remains of fresh specimens have been collected from La Réunion Island (21°S) and Amsterdam Island (38°S) in tropical and subtropical waters, respectively. Eight other squid were identified from beaks found in stomach contents of sleeper sharks caught in Kerguelen waters (47 to 48°S) located in the southern Polar Frontal Zone. These new data together with published and unpublished information on the food of seabirds and marine mammals indicate that giant squid have a wide distribution throughout the southern Indian Ocean.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2003 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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