New records of the scaled squid, lepidoteuthis grimaldii joubin, 1895 in the canary islands, eastern atlantic ocean (Cephalopoda, oegopsida, lepidoteuthidae)

Abstract

Two well conserved female specimens of the uncommon soft-scaled squid Lepidoteuthis grimaldii Joubin, 1895 (Lepidoteuthidae, Oegopsida) were caught in Canary Island waters: a maturing female of 580 mm dorsal mantle length found dead on the surface at 27°38' N, 18°01' W (near El Hierro Island); an immature female of 350 mm dorsal mantle length captured by commercial open midwater trawl at 28°48' N, 16°00' W (north of Tenerife Island), between 342 and 487 m depth. This is the first report of an adult of this species from the Canary Islands. Morphological data are presented and the bathymetric distribution of this species in Canary waters is discussed