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Loligo reynaudii Orbigny 1845

Cape Hope squid

Michael Vecchione and Richard E. Young
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Containing group: Loligo

Introduction

A loliginid of southern African waters. Maximum mantle length 40 cm, weight more than 1 kg. 


Characteristics

  1. Mantle
    1. Mantle narrow, elongate.
  2. Fins
    1. Fins long, 65% or more of mantle length.
  3. Arms:
    1. Arms short (in comparison with L. vulgaris).
  4. Tentacles
    1. Tentacles long; clubs expanded.
    2. Club suckers on the manus (medial series) greatly enlarged.
    3. Club sucker rings smooth or with 16-20 teeth.

Habitat and biology

This species has been a subject of numerous studies because of the importance of the jig fishery.  It spawns primarily during September to December on sand beds in shallow bays along the south coast of South Africa.  Size at maturity is highly variable, depending on location and time of year.  Males may be mature at 9 cm or immature at 25 cm ML, females mature at 10-18 cm ML.  Mature squid arrive on spawning grounds in sexually segregated schools.  Individual squid may spawn over a period of weeks or months.  No post-spawning mass mortality has been observed. 

Inshore/eastward-offshore/westward migrations are correlated with water temperature and wind direction.  Offshore distribution reaches depths of 200-300 m.

Geographical distribution

Eastern central Atlantic: From South Africa to southern Namibia.

Remarks

Loligo reynaudi has previously been proposed to be a subspecies of L. vulgaris.

Other Names for Loligo reynaudii Orbigny 1845

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Loligo reynaudii
Location Off South Africa
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
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About This Page


National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D. C. , USA


University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Michael Vecchione at

Page: Tree of Life Loligo reynaudii Orbigny 1845. Cape Hope squid. Authored by Michael Vecchione and Richard E. Young. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Vecchione, Michael and Richard E. Young. 2010. Loligo reynaudii Orbigny 1845. Cape Hope squid. Version 02 September 2010 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Loligo_reynaudii/19869/2010.09.02 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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