ALBERT

Description: Records of 158 observations of cephalopods from submersibles, primarily the Johnson Sea-Link, have been compiled through collaboration with several investigators. These observations include 118 videotape sequences, 58 collected specimens, and numerous shipboard photographs of live animals. At least 33 species have been observed to date; a few species have been observed repeatedly and could be good subjects for directed studies. The methods developed for in situ observation and subsequent collection of specimens with little or no damage allow descriptions of behavior, morphology, physiology, and distribution that are not possible with other methods of collecting.

Description: Eleven species of paralarvae belonging to the Chiroteuthidae and related families are described from Hawaiian waters. The doratopsis stage is shown to be a diagnostic feature of the family Chiroteuthidae. This family, as now defined, includes the genera Chiroteuthis, Asperoteuthis, Grimalditeuthis and Planktoteuthis. Doratopsis sagitta, Valbyteuthis, Tankaia, Echinoteuthis and Enoptroteuthis spinicauda are placed as junior synonyms of Grimalditeuthis bonplandi, Planktoteuthis, Chiroteuthis, Mastigoteuthis and Lepidoteuthis grimaldii respectively. An unknown type of paralarva referred to as “big-fin” is described. Members of the “chiroteuthid lineage” which apparently includes the Chiroteuthidae, Mastigoteuthidae, Joubiniteuthidae, Batoteuthidae, Promachoteuthidae and “big-fin” may all have secondarily derived tentacular clubs.

Description: Variations in the distribution and abundance of coastal cephalopods in the Cabo Frio (Brazil) region were studied from 71 trawl samples obtained between November 1986 and October 1988. Species abundance was compared over the depths sampled and their relationship with hydrological features investigated. Best catches were markedly associated with upwelling of nutrient-rich water (South Atlantic Central Water) during the spring-summer period, at depths from 45 to 60 m. Two species, Loligo sanpaulensis and Eledone massyae, account for most of this increase. Variations in abundance of these species are related to recruitment and periods of high productivity on the feeding grounds. Benthic octopods such as Octopus tehuelchus, O. vulgaris and Eledone gaucha occurred in small numbers at 60 m. Species broadly distributed in the western Atlantic, such as Semirossia tenera and Loligo plei, were also present.

Description: Studies of laboratory cultures of Chordaria linearis (Hooker et Harvey) Cotton from southernmost South America revealed that this species has an obligate sexual life history in which a macroscopic sporophyte alternates with a monoecious microscopic gametophyte. Sexual reproduction is isogamous and under photoperiodic control. Gametes are produced only in short days, whereas in long days, asexual zoospores are formed that recycle the gametophyte generation. Unfused gametes develop into gametophytes, and sporophytes originate only from zygotes. Unlike other sexual members of the Chordariales, gametes of C. linearis have a reduced stigma and do not show phototaxis. They are released at the beginning of the night, not in the morning. In nature, C. linearis seems to be regularly infected by a dictyosiphonalean epiphyte resembling the rare arctic species Trachynema groenlandicum (Lund) Pedersen. The epiphyte is responsible for previous contradictory results obtained in laboratory cultures of C. linearis. This is the first record of Trachynema in the southern hemisphere.

Description: The constancy of postmoult/premoult ratios of measures of linear size during ontogeny in insect and other arthropods is widely known as Dyar's rule. We tested this rule in nine species of the waterstrider genera Gerris and Aquarius (Heteroptera: Gerridae), using two size variables: head width and a multivariate measure derived from the pattern of multivariate allometry common to the species considered. Allometric patterns were similar in two independent datasets of laboratory-reared and field-caught specimens. Although our data strictly followed Dyar's rule injust a few instances, all growth ratios varied within a limited range only. Growth ratios for head width differed more between moults than those for multivariate size. The relationship between growth ratios for the two size measures conformed to the predictions based on allometry. We discuss hypotheses of the possible adaptive significance of growth ratios, such as their relation to mobility and systematic differences between hemimetabolous and holometabolous insects, and emphasize the importance of allometry. Since Dyar's rule is consistent with available evidence of physiological mechanisms underlying growth and moulting control of insects and crustaceans, it can be used as a general frame of reference to test alternative growth models.

Description: The ultimate cause of the onset of glaciations remains elusive, but in the case of northem hemisphere glaciation it is probable that several factors acted in combination. General global cooling resulted from reduction of atmospheric C02 by weathering of silicate rocks exposed by erosion of late Cenozoic uplifts. Uplifts in south Asia, southwestern North America and Scandinavia occurred at distances appropriate for the generation of quasi-permanent Rossby waves in the atmosphere. The resulting winds, given suitable moisture sources, were favourable for causing large-scale precipitation at mid-latitudes on the northern continents. Moisture sources were provided by the closure of the Central American isthmus. Gulf Stream flow increased, carrying warm subtropical waters to high latitudes. The Denmark Strait deepened permitting greater outflow of deep water from the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. The relative importance of each of these factors should be investigated by additional atmospheric and ocean climate model sensitivity studies.

Description: In the coastal waters between Cabo Frio, Rio de Janeiro State (Lat. 23°S) and Chui, Rio Grande do Sui State (Lat. 34°S), more than 30 species of cephalopods occur in the different marine environments. Temperate benthic octopuses of low fecundity, bearing large eggs, are restricted to the cold bottom waters of the outer shelf and the slope, in contrast to species of tropical origin, which occupy the more diverse shallow water habitats, principally along the Rio de Janeiro coast. Cosmopolitan warm-water octupuses with high fecundity, like Scaeurgus unicirrhus and Octopus vulgaris, are found along the entire area because the transport of pelagic juveniles is favored by the warm, southward flowing superficial Brazil Current. All three families of epipelagic octopuses are represented. The neritic squid fauna includes only five myopsid squids, four of them of tropical origin. At the upper slope Illex argentinus is dominant and several mesopelagic and bathipelagic oegopsids, widely distributed in tropical and temperate Atlantic Ocean waters, also occur. The absence of endemic species indicates the transitional character of the fauna between the Caribbean and the Patagonian regions.

Description: Based on sequential growth stages of Moroteuthis robusta, M. japonica and M. pacifica are synonymous with M. robusta, and smaller stages are bridged to the Onykia “carribaea” species complex. Within the family Onychoteuthidae, the genus Onykia has in common with the genus Moroteuthis the absence of both visceral photophores and dorsal nuchal folds. Young Moroteuthis have a smooth mantle surface with a distinct iridescence, a small number of marginal suckers on the tentacular club and an indistinct cartilageous cap on the endocone. While, large Onykia develop rhomboidal fins, an inverted Y-shaped cartilageous ridge in the funnel groove, and a reduced number of marginal suckers on the club, all of which characterize Moroteuthis. Close examination of a series of O. “carribaea” specimens reveals that the species is not monospecific, but contains more than one species. It is thus suggested that the genus Onykia, therefore, appears to represent juvenile stages of the genus Moroteuthis.

Description: King Penguins are the second largest of all diving birds and share with their congener, Emperor Penguins, breeding habits strikingly different from other penguins. Our purpose was to determine the feeding behavior, energetics of foraging and the prey species, and compare these to other sympatric species of subantarctic divers. We determined: (1) general features of foraging behavior using time—depth recorders, velocity meters, and radio transmitters, (2) energetics by doubly labeled water, (3) food habits and energy content from stomach lavage samples, and (4) resting and swimming metabolic rate by oxygen consumption measurements. The average foraging cycle was ≈6 d, during which the mass gain of 30 birds was ≈2 kg. When at sea, the birds exhibit a marked pattern of shallow dives during the night, whereas deep dives of 〉100 m only occurred during the day. Maximum depth measured from 34 birds and 18 537 dives was 304 m, and maximum dive duration from 23 birds and 11 874 dives was 7.7 min. The frequency distribution of dive depth was bimodal, with few dives between 40 and 100 m. Overall, swim velocities when a bird was at sea averaged 2.1 m/s (N = 5), while descent and ascent rates of change in depth averaged 0.6 m/s for dives 〈60 m (N = 74) and 1.4 m/s for dives 〉150 m (N = 90). Night feeding dives occurred at a rate of ≈20 dives/h, and deep dives occurred at a rate of ≈5 dives/h. The energy consumption rate while resting ashore was 3.3 W/kg (N = 3) or 1.6 times the predicted standard metabolic rate (SMR). The average energy consumption rate while away from the colony was 10 W/kg (N = 8) or 4.6 x SMR, compared to 4.3 x SMR estimated from a time—energy budget. The latter value is based on an average metabolic rate of 4.2 W/kg for three birds while resting in 5°C water and 9.6 W/kg while swimming at 2 m/s, which was extrapolated from the average of three birds swimming at 1 m/s. The average energy intake based on 9 stomach content samples was nearly 24.6 kJ/g dry mass. The main prey by number are myctophid fish of the species Krefftichthys anderssoni and Electrona carlsbergi. It was concluded that: (1) feeding begins ≈28 km from the colony, (2) prey is pursued night and day through its vertical movements, (3) vertical distribution of the prey is reflected closely by diving habits of the birds, (4) deep—diving, for unknown reasons, is an important component of foraging success, (5) diving capacities of King Penguins are remarkable compared to other birds and many pinnipeds, and (6) calculated foraging energetics can be closely estimated from time—energy budgets.