Stock discrimination of two European squids (Illex coindetii, Loligo forbesii) by statolith shape analysis

Bianca T. C. Bobowski, Anne Marie Power, Finlay Burns, Pierluigi Carbonara, Danila Cuccu, Marilena Donnaloia, Maria Cristina Follesa, Ana Moreno, Inna M. Sokolova, Maria Valls, Daniel Oesterwind, 2024. Stock discrimination of two European squids (Illex coindetii, Loligo forbesii) by statolith shape analysis. Fish Manag Ecol. 2024;00:e12689. https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12689

Abstract: We evaluated the feasibility of classifying ommastrephid and loliginid squid species by statolith shape analysis into fisheries management units or stocks. Statoliths of Illex coindetii (Verany, 1839) and Loligo forbesii (Steenstrup, 1856) were studied from multiple areas of the North East Atlantic and Northern Mediterranean Sea during 2021–2022. I. coindetii and L. forbesii individuals were categorized into multiple stocks across the areas studied. Stocks migrating between fishing areas as well as multiple stocks in the same area, as identified for L. forbesii in this study, need to be considered for sustainable fisheries management.

Keywords: broadtail shortfin squid, Loliginidae, Myopsida, Oegopsida, Ommastrephidae, statolith shape analysis, stock structure, veined squid