Help With Squid ID?

Thu, Apr 14th, 2011  |   Marine Life 8 Comments

Does anyone know what kind of squid this is? A sperm whale I was swimming with kindly shared it with me.

squid dropped by sperm whale
Squid dropped by a sperm whale

Here’s a snapshot of it back on the surface:

squid
Another picture of the squid dropped by a sperm whale

Update 18 April: I received this helpful note from my friend Dr Mark Norman, cephalopod specialist at the Museum Victoria in Australia:

Looks like a squid from the family Chiroteuthidae. They are midwater squid that hang off ammonia pockets in the first pair of arms (the fatter ones) and dangle feeding tentacle lures below them. Might have been snapped up in a group or been an incidental catch. Seems a bit little to be a targeted feed for a sperm whale. Like us eating ants.

Second update 18 April: I just received a second opinion from Dr Kotaro Tsuchiya of Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology that concurs with the opinion Mark sent me.

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  • http://echeng.com/ Eric Cheng

    You need to post this in the Wetpixel critter ID section!

  • http://www.tonywublog.com/ Tony Wu

    I did :)

  • judit

    where was this photo taken? a geographic location would greatly help in narrowing things down. :)

  • Cindy

    Hey Tony!
    I posted this to a Ceph yahoo group I’m a member of. There are a lot of specialists and really knowledgeable people. I received this reply from one of the other members:

    The squid is a oceanic squid from the Mastigoteuthis or Chiroteuthis group. I
    only know one person who still work with them sporadically Dr. Salcedo-Vargas. I
    must see if I find his Email.
    Best wishes
    Juergen

  • http://www.tonywublog.com/ Tony Wu

    Very cool. Thanks Cindy!

  • Alex Salcedo

    Hi Cindy and Tony,

    I’ve worked with these squids from the Indian Ocean and from the picture I can say that could be: Chiroteuthis (Chirothauma) cf picteti. Of course, is a tentative ID. I suggest in the future for better ID, take photos of ventral, dorsal and lateral views, close up of the eyes and arms. Good luck!!

    Alejandro Salcedo-Vargas

  • http://www.tonywublog.com/ Tony Wu

    Thank you very much Alejandro!

    Understand re: ID photos. I only had a long telephoto lens with me, so I had to back up a long, long way on the boat as it was and get everyone to stand out of the line of sight. I need to remember to carry around a macro lens everywhere from now on :)

    Cheers,

    Tony

  • Sparre117

    dude thats a giant baby squid!!!!