Publication Date:
2020-04-30
Description:
The statocyst and statolith of a mature female giant squid Architeuthis kirki Dell, 1970, caught in New Zealand waters are described. The organization of the chambers and internal projections of the statocyst can be interpreted as an analogue of a lamprey-like labyrinth with two semicircular canals. Size, sex, date of capture, and site of capture are reported for 24 A. kirki specimens caught in New Zealand waters from 1983 to 1988. A statolith from a specimen captured 3 May 1987 was sectioned and examined for microincrements, and the age assigned by assuming daily microincrementation. When size and date of capture are used to estimate annual growth rates, they yield rates similar to or slightly faster than those inferred from the statolith microincrements. Four different growth curves have been fitted to the length-at-age data: lowess (locally weighted least squares), exponential, logarithmic (power curve), and von Bertalanffy. Estimated von Bertalanffy curve parameters are k = 0.0036d-1, and L- infin = 2168 mm dorsal mantle length.
Type:
Article
,
PeerReviewed
Format:
text
