Hi everyone,

I'm Matt Jones, I'm a PhD student at AUT studying the diet of Orange Roughy around NZ (before there aren't any - hopefully).

I'm to confess to not knowing too much about cephalopods. Although I have been going down to Kelly Tarlton's to watch Dr Steve's squid which has been really cool.

Cheers
Matt

:welcome: from down south Matt.....so what do orange roughy eat???????

I actually get asked this a lot!

Cheers

Jean

:welcome: to TONMO, Matt!

:D Hi, Matt! Hope you're findin' some good stuff on this site about cephalopods...they're absolutely fascinating creatures. Your research on the orange roughy is interesting...I'm glad that somebody's studying them before they really do face extinction :) Way cool!

Welcome to Tonmo, and prepare to be amazed at those *craaaaaaaaaaaazy* cephalopods!!! :D

~ Claudia, United States

Thanks for the nice welcome,

As for what Orange Roughy eat. What we know so far is that OR eat a variety of benthopelagic prey. Without going into species it's split roughly into thirds between squid, fish and natant decapods. Sorry to be so vague but I'm only starting out and I'm still doing THE BIG literature search at the moment.

When I've had a chance to get some and see for myself I'll let everyone know.

Ok, so much for the air of mystery:

So I re-post, we got to see some amazing footage yesterday. The first part was preported to be of Architeuthis but wasn't.

I'm not sure where it was (no, really I don't know), the only info being the depth 886-950m, somewhere off NZ. There was an undersea cable involved which was the point of the ROV being there. Anyway we're watching this cable roll by, and there's lot's of interesting (to me at least) invertebrate benthic life rolling past. Then this whopping great squid bashes into the ROV and swims away. The ROV follows it for a few minutes before either losing it or getting back to work (those things are expensive to run ...and the meter is running). It was this big brick red thing (Says Matt the Cephalopod taxonomy expert - My Molluscs are slow and have shells).

The Second vid, was of a Marlin caught NW of NZ at night. It had been hooked 45 min previously. When they brought it on board you got to see: tail, spine, head. Apparently it had been taken by a squid which had basically filleted it. It wasn't a small fish either, being estimated at 120Kg and about 4-6' in length. There was a big bite mark on the head which was roughly oval and deep, which implies it wasn't a shark. Never seen the like... makes you REALLY REALLY NOT want to be in the water offshore at night.

:)

Incidently, how many of you have read John Wyndham's "The Kraken Wakes'?

OK, you can't get away so easily.....We need more info!!!!

:shock:
Ummmmmm..........

:welcome: there Matt. Terribly secret squirrel stuff you're spilling there online. :heee:

The squid footage was fab; supposed to be Architeuthis, but sadly it wasn't; it was an ommastrephid (arrow squid); fab all the same!!! The filleted marlin - blew us away - but that's part of a wee fishing doco that airs in October (NZ TV) ... so canna spill da beans on that one.

Looks like we'll receiving 50+ marlin/swordfish stomachs/year from this day forth; they eat fast-moving surface-dwelling squid (< 150m depth); we're expecting juvenile Architeuthis in them one of these days (to receive so many marlin stomachs is almost without precedent; great thesis topic developing there for someone; they eat tremendous numbers of squid [almost exclusively] during the summer and winter months).

We're concentrating on fisheries here that work in all depth horizons; Matt, you may well find the elusive Architeuthis juvenile in your roughy stomachs; or it could be at the other end of the depth spectrum, in the shallows. Just tracking that elusive quarry down every way we can.

O

Oops,

Well that's me told off. :)

:welcome: Matt! :D

.... now Matt has gone and edited his post, so you'll wonder what on Earth it was that I was talking about. :bonk:

Matt, ya gotta go repost now .... (we've been looking at some rather interesting video footage)

Come on Matt, spill the whole can :D

and :welcome:

:shock:
Ummmmmm..........

:welcome: there Matt. Terribly secret squirrel stuff you're spilling there online. :heee:
:lol: Hey, Matt got caught by the Big Man (tm)
Who's in trouble now?!
Those videos were indeed superb... it takes a lot to keep O. ( :notworth: ) quiet for more than 30 sec...

TPOTH

:shock: :shock:

I'm really in the firing line today!

Right, I demand lines from you both, 10,000 of them, hand written!

"I shall not be horrid to O"
"I shall not be horrid to O"
"I shall not be horrid to O"
"I shall not be horrid to O"
....

*grumbles*
Can't believe he specified "hand written"
so much for copy/pasting the lot...guess O. is not a Dr for nothing :grad:

TPOTH

hi Matt & :welcome: if you still want to play but without your ball :lol:
Hands up for a new "Spanking" forum ?

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


we may be related, I was a Jones too

we may be related, I was a Jones too

Hi, so you're not a Jones anymore?

I still want to know if anyone has read 'The Kraken Wakes' by John Wyndham. He's most famous for writing 'The day of the Triffids'.

The book was written in the 60's but it's about the deep sea. I would say more but that would spoil the story.

Also I'd just like to say how fortunate I feel to be working with such outstanding brains here at AUT. I'm having a fantastic time.

Cheers

Matt

we may be related, I was a Jones too

Hi, so you're not a Jones anymore?

I still want to know if anyone has read 'The Kraken Wakes' by John Wyndham. He's most famous for writing 'The day of the Triffids'.

The book was written in the 60's but it's about the deep sea. I would say more but that would spoil the story.

Also I'd just like to say how fortunate I feel to be working with such outstanding brains here at AUT. I'm having a fantastic time.

Cheers

Matt

Hmm...good message the second time around too ! :)
Nope, haven't read it, but will look for it now...sounds cool !
greg

Hey, he had to post it twice ... dem bwains at AUT is weally weally weally and twully outstandin man!

[He's just trying to get out of his 'lines']

Gotta do better than that Matt. A jelly donut and cuppa coffee would go down a treat just about now ....

Damn, it was worth a try :P

... I'm waiting for my cuppa 8)

... I'm waiting for my cuppa 8)

I dunno, you try and say something nice...
:P

Also I'd just like to say how fortunate I feel to be working with such outstanding brains here at AUT.
where? where?
Geeeez...i wish you ppl kept me informed about those things... :evil:

I'm having a fantastic time.
just you wait...
No fish, no guts, no otoliths, no squid beaks to add to the jar (or throw in Steve's coffee), unidentifiable random gunk that will take u a month to finally realise it's that gum you were looking for...

For the record: I'm having a blast too! 8)

TPOTH

no squid beaks to add to the jar (or throw in Steve's coffee),

just go diging in steve's garden.... youll find beaks and goo to spread all around his perosnal space.....


mu HA ha ha...

:cthulhu:

all around his perosnal space.....


PLEASE, no digging around my perosnal space!!!

TPOTH and Matt, that's 15,000 lines, with interest!

Also I'd just like to say how fortunate I feel to be working with such outstanding brains here at AUT. I'm having a fantastic time.

Cheers

Matt
Talk about grovelling Matt :yuck: anyway the most outstanding brains are at OTAGO

and at the risk of upsetting those in good old mother england GO THE ALL BLACKS who just creamed england at rugby at the weekend (please note the underdogs just beat the world champs!!!)

(not that I follow the rugby you understand, I actually think it's really boring but it has been the topic of conversation at work today AND I live only two block from the grounds so I couldn't really miss it!!!!!!!!!!)

J

Matt, my ex kept the Jones bit so I dumped it as not considered fair that my new love should have to have same title as "her" :x
I considered Fartacus as a new surname but it sounded daft so settled for
B'ellbottom :roll:

as a tip from an old hand, there's many things you can do to a coffee you may begrudge serving - be imaginative :yuck:

:shock:

:goofysca:

as a tip from an old hand, there's many things you can do to a coffee you may begrudge serving - be imaginative :yuck:

I've seen Fight Club :heee:

No really, I couldn'y, I'm already the Official Supplier of Jelly Doughnuts. :P (Not that he's got any yet) and then there's all those lines...

Incidently on Orange Roughy diet, most of the literature I've found and there isn't that much, especially around NZ, is based on data about 20 years old. Since then they've had the s*&# fished out of them. So it will be interesting to see what effect that has had on their diet (Assuming we can get some - As soon as I get some, I'll let you know). It's going to be really interesting. If anyone knows anything, or wishes to tell me I'm talking bollocks (why am I asking this? Like you're not going to) please don't hesitate to tell me - there is no way I know the whole picture.

:goldfish:

Hey, it was the only fish, and it's orange!

I've seen Fight Club
That got Sir Steve's attention though I doubt if any drinks sabotage is really gonna bother him, regularly climbing into rotting sperm whales whilst avoiding being poleaxed by a rather large cetaceous penis (todger dodging) :shock:

and at the risk of upsetting those in good old mother england GO THE ALL BLACKS who just creamed england at rugby at the weekend (please note the underdogs just beat the world champs!!!)

:D Jean :D , I don't follow rugby :sleeping: as there are no engines but since when has your national eggy ball chucking team been the underdogs ?
The top team is not necessarily the best team. M. Schumacher has been F1
champ after ramming the opposition etc.
Well done the Black steamroller !

Matt, my Grandad was a regular visitor to NZ during the flying boat era as a BOAC steward, who knows what he got up to...?
Can someone return his fishing gear which he apparently has left in his locker ?

Hi

I was err... fortunate, to catch up with Steve and Kat that afternoon at the beached whales (isn't that a Larsen cartoon). Its how the whole PhD thing started. I had just gone down there for a look as I'd never seen a Sperm whale in the (decomposing) flesh before. Actually I was out there to have a surf at Piha, which is just over the hill from the stranding. (Offshore 3-4' for those that might care)

After a lifetime of dealing with decaying shells I now have a new scale for 'How bad things can smell'.

Imagine you take two Ford Mondeo estates or a couple of mini-vans and put them end to end. That's about the size of these whales. Also add to that they are sitting on black sand, are there in early summer, in NZ, and have been there for 4 days. Oh, and the weather had been really nice too. Think of something that smells bad, then think again. Then think that smells are particulate. Then keep it down.

Like Spartacus said, it's not everyday you get to stick your head in a decomposing whale.

Actually from memory, they only had that day to... (Is dissect the right word for something that big?) the 12 whales, as the council was burying the bodies that day. Now that must have been a fun job.

On the todger business, I think all the whales were male.

Still, they could have blown them up, surely everyone has seen that video.