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Shiny Bird Squid

Ornithoteuthis volatilis (Sasaki 1915)

Comprehensive Description

provided by Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology
Ornithoteuthis volatilis (Sasaki, 1915)

DIAGNOSIS.—Ornithoteuthis without sexual dimorphism in dentition of sessile arm suckers. Midventral surface of right arm IV with honeycomb-like sculpturing and with 2 to 3 longitudinal columns of depressions, 10–15 depressions in each column.

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION.—Sasaki, 1915:138.

TYPES.—Holotype: Museum of the Science College, University of Tokyo, Japan, mature male, 213 mm ML, collected off Atami, Sagami Province, Honshu, Japan, 24 Jun 1906.

Paratypes: 1 female, 208 mm ML, collected off Atami, Sagami Province, Japan, 24 Jun 1906; 1 male, 2 females, 152 mm ML, 148 mm ML, and 148 mm ML, respectively, collected off Atami, Sagami Province, Honshu, Japan, 23 Sep 1905, after “they flew from the sea into the sky and, colliding with the sail of his boat, fell down into it” (Sasaki, 1915:138).

DISTRIBUTION.—Prior to a recent study in Australian waters that resulted in the capture of more than 2000 larvae and juveniles and 101 adults (Dunning, 1988), only 62 specimens (17 adults) of O. volatilis had been reported in the literature. Along the western margin of the Pacific, O. volatilis had been recorded between 36°15′N and 23°S and eastward to the Line Islands (140°W), where its latitudinal range appears very restricted (Rancurel, 1970; Wormuth, 1976; Nesis and Nigmatullin, 1979). Ornithoteuthis volatilis has been recorded in the Indian Ocean from the Arabian Sea to south of Madagascar in the west and eastward to the Timor Sea Fujita and Hattorf, 1976; Nesis and Nigmatullin, 1979).

The known distribution of adults off the eastern Australian coast has been extended to 38°13′S (Dunning, 1988), and larvae were abundant in summer plankton tows in the East Australian Current (Dunning, 1986). Off the northwest Australian coast, single adults were caught at each of eight demersal trawl stations in continental slope waters between 13°50′S and 18°37′S.

Although larvae and juveniles are reported to be epipelagic, most adults have been caught in midwater and demersal trawls in continental slope waters or near seamounts and have rarely been caught at the surface. In Australian waters, adult O. volatilis were absent from trawl and jig catches on the continental shelf and were caught only in demersal trawls where water depths ranged from 400 m to 732 m (Dunning, 1988). Nesis and Nigmatullin (1979) suggested that, like its Atlantic congener (Roper and Young, 1975), O. volatilis could undertake diel vertical migration.

Ornithoteuthis volatilis has previously been recorded from the stomachs of longnose lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox Lowe) from the northeastern Indian Ocean (Fujita and Hattori, 1976) and around New Caledonia (Rancurel, 1970) and from the stomachs of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares (Bonnaterre)) from the Gulf of Papua (misidentified as Ornithoteuthis antillarum, the Atlantic congener; Rancurel, 1976b). Alepisaurus is considered by Rancurel (1970) and Okutani and Kubota (1972) to feed in the upper 300 m of the water column, although it has been caught at depths as great as 1500 m.

SIZE, MATURITY, AND REPRODUCTION.—No disparity in size at maturity was evident among 93 adult male and female O. volatilis from Australian waters. Females reached maturity from 150 mm ML and males from 130 mm ML. Considerable variation in size at maturity was evident for both sexes. Two females, 202 mm ML and 217 mm ML, caught in summer and a single female of 158 mm ML caught in winter off the northwest coast were mature, with both oviducts and ovary filled with ripe eggs. A 248 mm ML female O. volatilis caught off the central New South Wales coast in January 1982 was nearing full maturity, although other specimens of 250 mm ML and 269 mm ML caught in winter in the same region were still maturing. Off the southeast Australian coast in summer, mature males of 160 mm ML and 239 mm ML were caught, although additional specimens of 176 mm ML and 199 mm ML were still maturing (Dunning, 1988).

Both seasonal and geographic variation were evident in size at maturity of O. volatilis from Australian waters, although maximum size, at least for males, was similar off both the northwest and southeast coasts.

Only 13 adult specimens of O. volatilis have been described from elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region, and the reproductive condition of these specimens was not reported (Sasaki, 1915, 1929; Okada, 1968; Rancurel, 1970; Wormuth, 1976; Nesis and Nigmatullin, 1979). The advanced state of hectocotylization of arm IV of the 213 mm ML male described and illustrated by Sasaki (1915, 1929) is similar to that of mature specimens examined from Australian waters.

LARVAE.—Off eastern Australia during summer 1983, O. volatilis was the dominant ommastrephid species in larval collections in deeper shelf and upper continental slope waters. Small larvae were more abundant in deeper shelf and continental slope waters off the northern New South Wales coast, indicating that spawning is occurring in warm East Australian Current waters of tropical origin. The mantle-length distribution of more than 2000 larvae examined together with the size distribution of adults examined supports a hypothesis of extended, perhaps year-round, spawning occurring in this region (Dunning, 1988).
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bibliographic citation
Voss, N. A. and Sweeney, M. J. 1998. "Systematics and Biogeography of cephalopods. Volume II." Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 277-599. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.586.277

Comprehensive Description

provided by Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology
Ornithoteuthis volatilis (Sasaki, 1915)

Available information suggests that the long-tailed flying squid, Ornithoteuthis volatilis, is primarily a tropical/subtropical species. Along the western margin of the Pacific, it has been recorded between 36°15′N and 23°S and eastward to the Line Islands (140°W), where its latitudinal range appears very restricted (Rancurel, 1970; Wormuth, 1976; Nesis and Nigmatullin, 1979). Ornithoteuthis volatilis has been recorded in the Indian Ocean from the Arabian Sea to south of Madagascar in the west and eastward to the Timor Sea (Fujita and Hattori, 1976; Nesis and Nigmatullin, 1979).

Larval Ornithoteuthis volatilis were caught off the east Australian coast between 27°59′S and 34°33′S, and juveniles were caught between 28°18′S and 38°25′S, where surface temperatures ranged from 26.9° C to 19.6° C. Larvae and juveniles were collected in slope and adjacent waters off the central New South Wales coast during most of the year (January-May, July-October), with small larvae rare south of the point where the southward flowing EAC turns eastward away from the continental slope. No specimens were present in towed plankton- and scoop-net catches from the central Tasman Sea basin east of 155°E and south of 32°S made during austral summer 1981/1982.

Adults of O. volatilis have been caught using open midwater trawls and jigs at the surface off the eastern Australian coast between 26°30′S and 38°13′S, where surface waters ranged from 25.6° C to 17.3° C. They were absent from trawl and jig catches on the continental shelf, being represented only where water depth exceeded 400 m. They were occasionally caught at the surface on jigs and were caught in demersal trawls fished as deep as 732 m on the continental slope. No specimens were caught during extensive jig surveys of the central Tasman Sea and southern Coral Sea in the summers of 1981–1982 and 1982–1983, although subadult O. volatilis were encountered on the eastern boundary of an EAC warm core eddy off the southern New South Wales coast in December 1978, an estimated 250 km seaward of the edge of the continental shelf. Specimens also were caught in trawls near the Taupo Seamount (33°07′S, 156°07′E) in January 1982 (Dunning, 1988c).

Discussion

LARVAE.—The oceanography of the eastern Australian coast south of 27°S is dominated by a major western boundary current, the East Australian Current (Hamon, 1970; Boland and Church, 1981), and this complex feature is likely to have a primary role in the distribution of ommastrephid larvae and subsequently adults in the region. Rather than representing a single continuous flow, satellite-tracked buoy data (Godfrey et al., 1980) suggest that the EAC off northern New South Wales may at times be the resultant western boundary of one or a series of north-south elongated anticyclonic gyres with eastern boundaries east of 156°E.

The EAC carries tropical Coral Sea water southward along the offshore edge of the continental shelf from north of 27°S to a point between 31°S and 32°S, where it turns eastward to form the meandering Tasman Front, dividing the Tasman Sea from the Coral Sea (Godfrey et al., 1980; Stanton, 1981). Also at about this latitude, anticyclonic warm core “eddies” up to 300 km in diameter are regularly “pinched off” from the EAC and drift off to the south, some retaining their hydrological identity for as long as 18 months (Creswell, 1983).

Larvae of at least six ommastrephid species were caught off the northern New South Wales coast in early 1983 (Dunning, 1986), supporting a hypothesis of spawning of many oceanic ommastrephids in slope waters in the northern Tasman Sea during the summer months.

Larvae hatched in the upper 200 m in continental slope or adjacent oceanic waters north of 31°S to 32°S and perhaps as far north as 20°S to 24°S are most likely to be entrained into the EAC system. They are then either carried into the Tasman Sea with water forming a warm core eddy adjacent to the coast west of 156°E or transported further east along the Tasman Front with the potential of subsequent northward or southward transport around lower intensity gyres. If larvae were able to migrate vertically into deeper northward flowing countercurrents in slope waters or move into the less intense currents of shallower shelf waters, they could extend the time they remain in the more productive waters adjacent to the coast. For species such as Nototodarus gouldi and perhaps Ornithoteuthis volatilis, shelf waters and slope waters, respectively, also represent their adult habitat.

Off the New South Wales coast, Ornithoteuthis volatilis was the dominant species in larval collections in January, March, and May 1983 but was second in abundance to Nototodarus gouldi-type larvae in July-August 1985. Larvae of these two forms showed a similar distribution across the shelf and slope, being more abundant where bottom depths were from 50 m to 100 m than they were in deeper slope and oceanic water. Although juvenile O. volatilis also dominated midwater trawl samples taken near the continental slope at 34°22′S in April 1981 and at offshore stations near the boundaries of EAC warm core eddies sampled during August 1982 and October 1981, N. gouldi juveniles were not represented in samples taken seaward of the continental slope. Both species occur as adults in nearshore waters, N. gouldi on the continental shelf and O. volatilis in slope waters.

Ommastrephes bartramii, the most abundant ommastrephid in the January 1983 survey and second in relative larval abundance in March to Ornithoteuthis volatilis, was fourth in abundance in May 1983. Only juveniles of this species were caught off the New South Wales coast in July 1985. Larvae of this species, the adults of which are generally considered restricted to oceanic waters, were relatively evenly distributed offshore from midshelf waters along the northern New South Wales coast in early 1983. A similar pattern was evident for Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis larvae caught during the summer months off Lizard Island.

The larvae of Eucleoteuthis luminosa, adults of which are oceanic, were more abundant only in deeper slope and oceanic waters in both sampling areas. Eucleoteuthis luminosa was the second most abundant ommastrephid in January 1983 but was not represented in March 1983 or July 1985 and outnumbered only Hyaloteuthis pelagica in collections made in May 1983.

The northern New South Wales coast appears to be at the southern boundary of the distribution of S. oualaniensis larvae, at least from the midsummer to midwinter months. This species was more abundant in samples collected in May 1983 than in either January or March but never represented more than 5% of all ommastrephids. It was not represented in oblique tows made in July 1985. In contrast, S. oualaniensis was the overwhelmingly dominant species in the summer months near Lizard Island (Dunning, 1988c).

ADULTS.—In the southern Coral and central Tasman seas, boundaries between the distributions of adult ommastrephids appear to be relatively distinct, whereas in continental slope and adjacent waters off the eastern Australian coast, distributions show significant overlaps. As with the distribution of larvae, the warm surface currents of the EAC system appear to have a significant influence on the nearshore distribution of adults of some species in eastern Australian waters. In addition, on the upper continental slope and in deeper water between 28°S and 34°S, poorly defined northward flowing counter currents have been reported at depths of between 200 m and 800 m (Hamon, 1979; Boland, 1979). Such deep counter currents could explain the observed northward extension of the range of Todarodes filippovae in slope waters off the New South Wales coast relative to its northern boundary in the central Tasman Sea (∼32°S compared to ∼38°S).

In the central Tasman Sea and off southern New Zealand, the Tasman Front and Subtropical Convergence appear to represent the major oceanographic factors influencing species distributions. To the north of the Tasman Front, the dominant large ommastrephid is Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis, whereas to the south, Ommastrephes bartramii dominates. The abundance of this latter species decreases in the northern Subtropical Convergence Zone where Todarodes filippovae dominated summer jig and surface driftnet catches.

The fourteen species reported from the Coral and Tasman seas can be divided into four groups on the basis of their adult distribution patterns (Table 1).

Two species, Nototodarus gouldi and Todarodes pacificus pusillus, occur predominantly on the continental shelf as adults. In southern Australian waters, N. gouldi is most abundant in depths of 40 m to 90 m, where surface temperatures range from 15° C to 19° C (Winstanley et al., 1983), and T. p. pusillus is most abundant in northern waters with preliminary indications of higher abundance at the shelf edge at depths of ∼200 m. Both have been taken off the east coast at ∼27°S but in different depth strata (N. gouldi in deeper water). From their occurrence in demersal trawl catches, both appear to be associated with the bottom during the day, with N. gouldi migrating into the water column at night where it is taken on jigs.

Adults of Ornithoteuthis volatilis, Todaropsis eblanae, and Nototodarus hawaiiensis have been trawled primarily in continental slope waters. The distributions of the latter two species off the eastern Australian coast overlap significantly, with both taxa more abundant in northern waters (north of 25°S), where bottom depths range from 200 m to 500 m. These species have been caught together with T. p. pusillus in depths of 200 m to 250 m off the Great Barrier Reef. Nototodarus hawaiiensis appears to be both more widespread and more abundant than T. eblanae in northern Australian waters (Dunning, 1988c). Nototodarus hawaiiensis has not been caught south of the point where the EAC turns eastward from the slope (31°S–32°S), whereas T. eblanae has been caught on several occasions in this region as far south as 37°S, where the continental slope is narrower and the bottom is hard. In the north, the broad continental slope bottom is composed mainly of sandy muds (Maxwell, 1968).

In contrast, adults of O. volatilis were regularly caught in midwater trawls off the central New South Wales coast where bottom depths were in excess of 1000 m, indicating a more pelagic life style and possibly higher abundance in deeper slope waters. This species was not trawled off the north Queensland coast during surveys in 1985/1986, although it was taken in small numbers together with N. hawaiiensis in demersal trawls at depths greater than 450 m off the northwest Australian coast (Dunning, 1988c).

Both large-maturing Todarodes species, T. filippovae and T. angolensis, occur in slope and oceanic waters. The capture of juvenile and adult T. filippovae in demersal and pelagic trawls, on jigs, and in surface driftnets suggests that they occur throughout the water column both day and night. In the central Tasman Sea, the relative abundance of T. filippovae increased to a maximum at the southern boundary of the sampling area, on the southern boundary of the Subtropical Convergence Zone (42°S–44°S, sea surface temperatures < 14° C).

Specimens of T. angolensis have been reported from jig catches from the southwest Tasman Sea only (south of 45°S), whereas larger trawled specimens were caught in continental slope waters to the south of New Zealand and off southern Tasmania.

The apparent distribution of T. filippovae to the north of T. angolensis in the Tasman Sea provides an interesting contrast to Roeleveld's (1989) results, which were based on a trawl survey off South Africa. She concluded that the distribution of T. filippovae was centered to the south of T. angolensis in the South Atlantic, with specimens of T. filippovae trawled in depths of 692 m to 990 m where water temperatures were less than 3.8° C, compared to T. angolensis trawled in depths of 247 m to 710 m and temperatures of 5.1° C to 8.2° C. Adults of T. filippovae have been reported in abundance in the Tasman Sea in subantarctic waters from the surface to 1200 m, but in the southwest Pacific T. angolensis has rarely been reported.

Adults of the larger ommastrephids, Ommastrephes bartramii and Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis, and of the smaller species, Eucleoteuthis luminosa, S. sp. and Hyaloteuthis pelagica, occur predominantly in oceanic waters. Specimens caught in continental slope waters are generally either juveniles or reproductively mature individuals.

In the southern Coral and central Tasman seas, the distributions of the subtropical O. bartramii and the tropical S. oualaniensis appear to be separated by the Tasman Front at about 30°S to 32°S and show little overlap. Off the New South Wales coast, the influence of the EAC system promotes the southerly extension of the distribution of S. oualaniensis as far as 38°S, and extensive overlap with the distribution of both O. bartramii and, to a lesser extent, the more demersal T. filippovae, occurs. The distribution of S. oualaniensis in the southwest Indian Ocean is similarly affected by the analogous Agulhas Current (Filippova, 1971).

The poor representation of E. luminosa and H. pelagica in collections from the region provides little clarification of their distributions. The former species appears to occur with O. bartramii, at least in the northern Tasman Sea close to the eastern Australian coast, with the majority of specimens of E. luminosa taken in subtropical waters. The only adult H. pelagica examined was caught in tropical waters of Coral Sea origin in the EAC.

Zoogeographic Zones and Ommastrephid Squids

Previous studies of the zoogeography of Australasian marine organisms have typically considered coastal fauna, such as demersal fishes (Whitley, 1932) and intertidal invertebrates (Bennett and Pope, 1953; Knox, 1963). The few oceanic groups studied on a regional basis have included largely holoplanktonic species (e.g., pteropods and heteropods; see Newman, 1990). The paucity of our knowledge of the distributions of pelagic biota, especially nektonic forms, in the southwest Pacific relative to that for both the North Pacific and Atlantic oceans has been recognized by recent zoogeographers (e.g., Knox, 1970; Backus, 1986).

In the nearshore, littoral zone, local climatic conditions have a more significant and rapid impact than in offshore, oceanic waters. This is reflected in sometimes sharp boundaries to species distributions and in the larger number of recognizable zoogeographic “provinces” for various littoral species groups in the region (summarized in Briggs, 1974). In oceanic waters, water mass boundaries are poorly defined and pelagic organisms are rarely restricted to or characteristic of a single water mass (Backus, 1986). This fact is even more relevant to a consideration of a highly mobile, pelagic group, such as the ommastrephid squids.

I consider the observed distributions of the ommastrephids in the Coral and Tasman seas to be best described by a division of the water masses of the region into the three Zoogeographic zones defined by Knox (1970) (Table 2): (1) a tropical zone with surface waters of 20° C to 28° C in summer and bounded to the south by the Tasman Front; (2) a subtropical zone with summer surface waters of 15° C to 20° C bounded to the south by the subtropical convergence; and (3) a subantarctic zone with summer surface waters of less than 15° C. A further antarctic zone may occur in the adjacent Southern Ocean to the south of the Subantarctic Front, where summer surface waters are less than 3.5° C, but this requires further investigation.

The boundaries of these regions are somewhat at variance with the zones defined by Nesis (1979b) (Table 2), but it is considered that this reflects recent advances in our understanding of both the oceanography of the region and ommastrephid distributions. This simple scheme takes into account the far from perfect data set on which it is based.
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bibliographic citation
Voss, N. A. and Sweeney, M. J. 1998. "Systematics and Biogeography of cephalopods. Volume II." Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 277-599. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.586.277

Ornithoteuthis volatilis

provided by wikipedia EN

Ornithoteuthis volatilis, the shiny bird squid, is a squid from the subfamily Ommastrephinae, the flying squids, of the family Ommastrephidae part of the pelagic squid order Oegopsida. It is a tropical and sub-tropical species which is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific oceans. It is slightly larger than the closely related species Ornithoteuthis antillarum of the Atlantic Ocean.

Description

Ornithoteuthis volatilis has a broad head and it has a very narrow muscular mantle which tapers into a long pointed tail, the head is markedly wider than the mantle. It has long fins which are arrow-shaped and sharply lanceolate towards the tail with the rear edges of the fins being concave. The length of the fins is equal to approximately 55% of the mantle length and the fin width is circa 47% of the mantle length.[3] The first to third arms have at least 50 suckers each while each fourth arm has 75, with the suckers on the second and third arms being larger than those on the first and fourth arms. The suckers near the base have severely closely set teeth, of which the middle 1-3 are much more slender and sharply pointed. The largest suckers have 10-14 teeth all of which are sharply pointed and closely set, with long teeth and short teeth set alternately and with the 2 or 3 lowest (i.e. ventral) on either side being the widest and being obliquely pointed. The suckers towards the tip have less than 7 teeth which are separated, slender triangular and sharply pointed except ventral-most on either side which has a wider and less quadrangular shape.[4]

Males have a hectocotylus on the fourth right arm. The basal two thirds of this arm have 14 large, basal suckers followed by 20 reduced suckers with the ventral series is much reduced and some of these suckers are not true suckers but have a nipple like form. The outer third of the arm has 25 pairs of suckers which have their bases swollen into transverse, membranous papillae. These are closely set in two series, the ventral series is comb-like with much smaller rudimentary suckers on tips of papillae, separated by a membranous ridge along middle line. The dorsal protective membrane is absent from the tip of the arm while on the ventral side the protective membrane is normal in basal third of the arm then it broadens and becomes very thick. There is a "honeycomb region" which has 14 pores and a number of grooves and ridges. The pores are arranged in longitudinal series, each having two grooves across them which extend towards the membrane margin, the ridges lie opposite the grooves and connect with one another, where they are edged with numerous small, roundish depressions.[4]

The tentacular clubs are around half of the length of the tentacles, they have 12 suckers in the carpal region each of which has 8–12 conical teeth set on its distal margin with more closely set, broader, more triangular and more oblique teeth set on the proximal margin. The manus has four series of suckers each with 7-9 suckers of which the central two series are much larger; the largest being around 3 times larger than the marginal suckers. These large suckers are wide and deep while the other club suckers are broader than they are deep. The inner margin of the large manus suckers is completely toothed with sharply pointed, slightly curved teeth which alternate with small, plate-like, semicircular teeth, although these teeth are almost absent in the largest suckers. The rings of the suckers on the margins of the club and the dactylus have the sharp, pointed teeth on the proximal margin but these are broader, oblique, triangular and more closely set than similar teeth in the large suckers, the teeth on the distal margin are slender, conical and separated. There are four series of suckers on the dactylus arranged in 27 transverse rows with the dorsal suckers being smaller than those in more ventral sitings. There is a carpal locking apparatus which has 1 or 2 low knobs, no smooth-ringed suckers; this apparatus is rather indistinct in some individuals.[4]

Photophores are distributed in a similar way to O. antillarum, i.e. there are three visceral photophores, an oval, anal photophore, a posterior intestinal photophore and an elongated posterior visceral photophore[4] which forms a strip of pinkish bioluminescent tissue extending from the small photophore to the posterior tip of the mantle cavity.[3] The maximnmim reported size is 250mm mantle length for females and 310mm for males.[5]

Distribution

Ornithoteuthis volatilis is found in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific. Its latitudinal range in the western Pacific lies between 36°N to 38°S[1] and it extends as far east as the Line Islands,[3] while in the Indian Ocean it ranges from the Arabian Sea south to Madagascar and east to the Timor Sea, south to the waters off eastern Australia.[1] It has been recorded in the Atlantic Ocean off Namibia.[4]

Habitat and biology

Ornithoteuthis volatilis inhabits tropical slopes and oceanic waters where the adults range from the surface waters at night to moderate depths. They occur near the botton in the bathyal zone but in midwater above the continental slope and above sea mounts and ridges. The paralarvae and juveniles can also be found in midwater above great depths at the equator.[5]

It has very small eggs less than 1mm in diameter and spawning is intermittent with several egg masses laid over an extended period. The spermatophores of mature males have a length equivalent to 10.3% of mantle length and the number of spermatophores is around 100 as the male matures the volume of the Needham's sac and of the seminal reservoirs of the spermatophores increases.[3] O. volatilis is a nerito-oceanic species which lives near or over slopes; the non adults are found in midwater in the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones above the tops and slopes of sea mounts and midocean ridges as well as over the continental slopes and oceanic depths. They spawn near the sea bed near sea mounts and mid ocean ridges, and they may make long migrations to these areas. off eastern Australia spawning takes place in the deeper shelf and upper continental slope waters that sit within the warm East Australian Current which originates in the tropics, the size distribution of paralarvae and adults suggests that spawning in occurs throughout the year in this area. In the northern South China Sea spawning runs is from June through to October. In the western North Pacific Ocean this species spawns in the summer and its paralarvae are found in the Kuroshio Current off Japan.

O. volatilis is an actively browsing predator which preys on many different, relatively small animals. Its predators include numerous species of tropical and subtropical pelagic fish such as yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), longnose lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox), dolphinfish (Coryphaena hyppurus) and swordfish (Xiphias gladius). Sperm whales hunt this species extensively and it is heavily preyed on by the South African fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus). It is also an important food item for several shark species including the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), the scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini) and the smooth hammerhead shark (Sphyrna zygaena).[3] They are capable of short glides in a similar manner to flying fish.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Barratt, I. & Allcock, L. (2014). "Ornithoteuthis volatilis". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T163232A987711. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T163071A968661.en. Downloaded on 11 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b Julian Finn (2016). Bieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O (eds.). "Ornithoteuthis volatilis (Sasaki, 1915)". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e P. Jereb; C.F.E. Roper, eds. (2010). Cephalopods of the World an Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Cephalopod Species Known to Date Volume 2 Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids (PDF). Food and Agriculture Organization Rome. pp. 309–310. ISBN 978-92-5-106720-8.
  4. ^ a b c d e Young, Richard E. & Michael Vecchione (2014). "Ornithoteuthis volatilis (Sasaki, 1915). Version 21 January 2014 (under construction)". The Tree of Life Web Project.
  5. ^ a b Amanda Reid (2016). Cephalopods of Australia and Sub-Antarctic Territories. CSIRO Publishing. pp. 168–169. ISBN 1486303943.
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Ornithoteuthis volatilis: Brief Summary

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Ornithoteuthis volatilis, the shiny bird squid, is a squid from the subfamily Ommastrephinae, the flying squids, of the family Ommastrephidae part of the pelagic squid order Oegopsida. It is a tropical and sub-tropical species which is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific oceans. It is slightly larger than the closely related species Ornithoteuthis antillarum of the Atlantic Ocean.

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Habitat

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oceanic, epipelagic

Reference

van der Land, J. (ed). (2008). UNESCO-IOC Register of Marine Organisms (URMO).

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Habitat

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Known from seamounts and knolls

Reference

Stocks, K. 2009. Seamounts Online: an online information system for seamount biology. Version 2009-1. World Wide Web electronic publication.

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