Demersal cephalopods of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia

Abstract

Demersal trawl and dredge surveys of the Gulf of Carpentaria in the early summers of 1990 and 1991 provided the first comprehensive assessment of the cephalopod fauna of this shallow, tropical basin off northern Australia. Twenty-one taxa (comprising five loliginid squids, seven cuttlefishes, seven octopuses and two dumpling squids) were recorded. In addition to hosting species distributed broadly in the Indo-West Pacific (e.g. loliginid squids Sepioteuthis lessoniana, Photololigo cf. chinensis and P. cf. edulis; cuttlefishes Sepia eiliptica and Sepia pharaonis), the Gulf of Carpentaria represents the most northwesterly extent of the range of some eastern Australian species (e.g. Loliolus noctiluca and Sepia whitieyana). Squid catches were lower in the north-western gulf in 1990 and higher in shallower water during the more geographically restricted survey in 1991, whereas cuttlefish were more evenly distributed throughout the different sampling areas in both years. Broad size ranges of both sexes of the four most abundant species (P. cf. chinensis (northern form), P. cf. eduiis, S. eiliptica and S. pharaonis) are indicative of extended spawning seasons, and fully mature individuals of these species were evident throughout the gulf. Cephalopods are a minor component in reported domestic fisheries catches from the Gulf of Carpentaria, where penaeid prawns are targeted. High (though seasonal) squid catch rates were reported annually by Taiwanese trawlers targeting butterfish and squid from certain areas prior to 1979. With the observed population structure of the abundant cephalopod species and relatively high catch rates in some localities during these recent surveys, it is suggested that the cephalopod resources of the Gulf of Carpentaria could support increased commercial fisheries exploitation.