Squid beaks from whale stomachs

Steve O'Shea

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Hi all. Tintenfisch and I have just returned from a talk we gave on giant squid, giant octopus and other mysterious denizens of the deep, up country a bit. Whilst at the venue someone from the NZ Department of Conservation gave us a chilli bin of squid beaks (at least a thousand beaks) recently extracted (during autopsy) from the stomach of a stranded sperm whale (of length 13m, or ~ 40 feet). Therein were several (2 at least) giant squid beaks, and at least 4 (we haven't really looked at them in detail yet to give precise counts, and they still smell seriously evil and are covered in parasitic worms) of those belonging to Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni. Those of Mesonychoteuthis just leave those of Architeuthis for dead in the seriously evil stakes - they're considerably larger and CONSIDERABLY THICKER - almost capable of doing the 'cutting through cable' trick that you'll sometimes read about (with respect to Architeuthis).

In the months to come we'll try and describe a few of these beaks online for you (as a small project), as we try and reconstruct what species this whale had been eating, and where it had been eating them; it is really quite interesting stuff!! We also have the stomach contents of three pygmy sperm whales (Kogia) to examine, so the comparison might be of interest to people here.

Mesonychoteuthis is an Antarctic squid species (none is known from New Zealand waters, or at least none is represented in collections from NZ waters), so the sperm whale, stranding in subtropical waters, was likely feeding quite a bit south of New Zealand. I don't know the cause of death of the sperm whale, whether sick or disoriented, but will let you know as soon we find out.
Steve & Tintenfisch
 
Steve O'Shea said:
Time to make a prediction: you'll probably start hearing reports (maybe headlines if people are not bored with the squid already, and nothing else is happening in the news) of Architeuthis washing ashore or being caught in fishing nets in about 8 days (15 December) through to Feb (at least).O

Well, I've just returned from picking up samples from the Tangaroa (NIWA research vessel), and apparently a 15 foot Architeuthis was caught ~ 50°S [off the Auckland Islands] ~ two weeks ago [~ 8 December] by a fishing vessel working alongside; not sure where the specimen is yet, or if they even kept it - the vessel that caught it returned to New Zealand to unload several days ago. It looks like it is going to be another 'normal' year down here for GS.
O
 
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WOW steve you seriously are my personal hero!!!! This is no sarcasm...this is simply amazing stuff!!!! I may not be able to comprehend all of this right now...but will someday with your help!!!!

Tonmo has brought me so much closer to my dream!!!! You help me live it until i can be there in the flesh!!!!! :biggrin2:
 
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Holy guacamole .... now why doesn't anyone in my immediate circle of friends speak so highly of me? Oh, that's right ... they know me better. Even I don't like myself!

What're you studying Sharpcuda?
O
 
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Hello Steve did not mean to make you blush lol :oops: :oops:

I have learned alot from Tonmo and you though!!!
I am getting a BA in Zoology...Heading towards icthiology or invertebrae zoology. If I could only make up my bloody mind :x :?: lol
 
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....well, I'm ever so slightly biased when it comes to your 2 choices, so I'll stay out of it. HOWEVER, if you make the right decision :wink: and want to work on some aspect of ceph biology, systematics or culture in NZ in the future then sing out (but there are many other invertebrate groups to work on that I am interested in....).

....back to the thread though, we should have an update on the squid beaks from the old whale stomachs by the end of Feb.
 
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:smile: Thank you so much Steve really. My problem is I Think I have to many interests lol !!! Never a dull moment...!!! Can't wait to hear more about the squid beaks though!!! Should be interesting indeed!!!

Danielle
 
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Well, it looks like we'll receive the stomach contents of another whale very soon - this one a pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps). I understand that in addition to beaks within the stomach contents we have a few whole squid - something that will certainly make squid identification easier!

As soon as we get the Architeuthis stomach content work complete (another thread) we'll move on the original sperm whale stomach contents (this thread), and then the new Kogia contents. We'll attach a few pictures so that you can see the nature and extent of the task for yourselves (there's a lot of beak to examine).

Us
 
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Gidday all,
We'll have some pictures of the beaks posted by week's end (by which time I will have either finished the roll of film or figured out how to rewind it in the middle :wink: ). Be glad most of you are on the other side of the planet, though - any closer and you'd smell 'em for sure. :yuck:
 
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..... 2 days to go ..... (she put slide film in instead of print, and 36 exposure instead of 24, and she calls me disorganised :x )
 
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OK, here they are! These beaks are from the sperm whale stranded on Mahia Peninsula. There were seven lower beaks from Mesonychoteuthis and two upper and one lower from Architeuthis. You can see from the comparative photos that Meso (on left) leaves poor ol' Archi (on right) for dead.

Here's a little info we've been putting together on Mesonychoteuthis in prep for next week's news (keep your eyes peeled!):

Number of adult specimens known (reported): 6 (all but one recovered from sperm whale stomachs). Juveniles are not uncommon from surface waters to ~ 1000 m depth.
This species was first described on the basis of two arm crowns recovered from sperm whale stomach contents (Robson, 1925).
Estimated mantle length: 2-4m; total length to 30 feet.
Based on a combination of beak dimension, and both factory ship and photographic observations, Clarke (1986: 202) suggests Mesonychoteuthis attains a mantle length in excess of 2 m, possibly exceeding 4 m.
The occurrence of Mesonychoteuthis beaks in stomachs of female and small male sperm whales is intriguing, as these predators normally occur north of 40°S, while the squid are primarily reported from south of 40°S. Therefore Mesonychoteuthis, presently known from Antarctic waters, could extend as far north as 40°S, with the Subtropical Convergence delimiting the species’ northern distribution (Clarke 1980).
The male sperm whale stranded on Mahia Peninsula 28/11/2002 was 13 metres (~ 40 feet) in length, and contained 7 lower Mesonychoteuthis beaks in its stomach. It had probably only recently migrated back from the Antarctic, and had likely made few migrations to the region in its life.

References:
Clarke, M.R. 1980. Cephalpoda in the diet of sperm whales of the southern hemisphere and their bearing on sperm whale biology. Discovery Reports 37: 1–324.

Clarke, M.R. (Ed.) 1986. A handbook for the identification of cephalopod beaks. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 273 pp.

Robson, G.C. 1925. On Mesonychoteuthis, a new genus of Oegopsid. Cephalopoda. Annual Magazine of Natural History 9(16): 272-277.

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Oh, and here's a bonus shot of your favorite Teuthologist hard at work. :wink:

(Eds note (SOS): watch for (Author's note (Tfisch)) more progressive wrinkles and hair either fall out or go greyer over the coming 4 years ....... that's probably how long it will take Tintenfisch to finish her degree if I keep distracting her from her hard work by making silly amends to her TONMO posts! Sigh indeed)

:read:

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Tintenfisch said:
Oh, and here's a bonus shot of your favorite Teuthologist hard at work. :wink:

I think the caption to this should be "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" :mrgreen:

Funny, but the only other time I saw that gesture was in POKÉMON cartoons, when one Pokémon would diss another by pulling down one lower eyelid like that. Obviously, it is the Japanese version of giving someone "the finger". Is Steve-O' being rude here, or does he just have a piece of beak in his eye?

:cyclops: :squid:
 
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