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Pigmentation change on beak for Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis in the Xisha Islands waters of the South China Sea.

LU Hua-jie1,2,3,4,5,6*, CHEN Zi-yue1, NING Xin1, CHEN Xin-jun1,2,3,4,5,6   

  1. (1College of Marine Sciences of Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China; 2Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266071, Shandong, China; 3National Distantwater Fisheries Engineering Research Center, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China; 4The Key Laboratory of Sustainable Exploitation of Oceanic Fisheries Resources, Shanghai Ocean University, Ministry of Education, Shanghai 201306, China;5Key Laboratory of Oceanic Fisheries Exploration, Ministry of Agriculture, Shanghai 201306, China; 6Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Oceanic Fishery Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Shanghai 201306, China).
  • Online:2020-05-10 Published:2020-05-10

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Abstract: Beak is the feeding organ of cephalopods, which could provide abundant information on cephalopod fishery biology and ecology. We measured beak pigmentation in 860 purple-back flying squid (Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis) samples collected by Chinese lighting falling-net vessels in the Xisha Islands waters of the South China Sea from May to August 2017. We analyzed the relationship of changes in beak pigmentation with mantle length (ML), body weight (BW), somatic body weight (SBW), sexual maturity, and the external morphological parameters of the beak. The results showed that there were significant sexual variations in the beak pigmentation of S. oualaniensis (P<0.05), with higher pigment rates in females. The relationships between the pigmentation and ML, BW and SBW were positive. Pigmentation increased with the increasing sexual maturity stage. The velocity of male pigmentation in the lower beak was faster than the upper beak, except the lower wing length. However, the velocity of female pigmentation in the lower beak was slower than that in the upper beak. Our results provide a basis for the fishery biology research and for effective exploitation and scientific management of S. oualaniensis resource.