Morphological beak differences ofloliginid squid, Uroteuthis chinensis and Uroteuthis edulis, in the northern South China Sea

The mitre squid(U roteuthis chinensis) and the swordtip squid( U. edulis) are Indo-Pacific cephalopod species that are abundant in the western Pacific Ocean. They are currently exploited in the East and South China Seas and make up a significant portion of the Chinese neritic squid catch. Beaks, the feeding organs of squid, are important for individual size and biomass estimation because of their high resistance to degradation in predator stomachs and consistent dimensions. In this study, 104 U. chinensis and 143 U. edulis individuals were sampled from northern South China Sea with mantle length from 70 to 260 mm and 96 to 284 mm, respectively. The results indicated that morphological beak values were greater for U. edulis, compared to U. chinensis, for upper hood length(UHL), upper crest length(UCL), upper lateral wall length(ULWL), lower crest length(LCL), and lower lateral wall length(LLWL). According to principal component analysis, UHL/ML, UCL/ML, ULWL/ML, LCL/ML, LLWL/ML and LWL/ML could represent the characteristics of beaks for U. chinensis, while UHL/ML, UCL/ML, ULWL/ML, LHL/ML, LCL/ML and LLWL/ML could represent it for U. edulis. According to Akaike's information criterion(AIC) values, a power function was the most suitable model for U. chinensis, while a linear function was the most suitable model for U. edulis. The beak variable-mantle length ratio(beak variable/mantle length) declined with the increasing of mantle length and declined sharply at the early stage of growth in both beaks and species. The ratio changed quickly after achieving the mantle length of 140 mm for U. chinensis, while the ratio changed quickly after 170 mm for U. edulis. Beaks in both species experienced sharper changes through maturity stage I to II than other maturity stages. This study gives us basic beak morphology information for U. chinensis and U. edulis in the East and South China Seas. Geometric morphological methods combined with dietary analysis should be used in the future.

Comparative age and growth of Uroteuthis chinensis and Uroteuthis edulis from China Seas based on statolith

To determine the age and growth of Uroteuthis chinensis and U.edulis,growth increments of the lateral dome of the statolith were used in the present study.Specimens of the two species caught in the South China Sea(SCS)and East China Sea(ECS)were used to compare the age and growth differences between sexes.In the present study,we found the two species have similar lifespans of less than 200 days.We also found that there were significant differences in the relationships between mantle length and body weight for two species and for both sexes in the same species.The back-calculated hatching date for the two species was similar,i.e.October to January for specimens caught in spring,and March to June for specimens caught in summer(U.edulis)or autumn(U.chinensis).Exponential and logistic growth curves were fitted to build the age and mantle length relationship.Both growth curves showed that U.chinensis has a larger mantle length than U.edulis at the same age.The results of the growth rates also showed that U.chinensis grows faster than U.edulis.However,there are discrepancies between previous studies and the present study on the lifespan of the two species.Also,the sample size of the present study is small especially for U.edulis.Hence,future studies should be conducted to validate the daily periodicity of growth increment in the regions of statolith(except for the lateral dome which has been validated)and the sample size should be increased for age and growth studies.