Age and growth analysis of Loliginidae squid paralarvae in the NW Spanish coast using statolith increment counts

Knowledge of recruitment to a fishery is particularly important in short-lived species, like most cephalopods, in which there is a complete turnover of individual every 1 or 2 years. In this study, age, body length, statolith length and growth rates of loliginid paralarvae (Alloteuthis media, A. subulata and Loligo vulgaris) were determined to evaluate the form of the growth curve and differences between species and hatching seasons. A total of 222 paralarvae collected in zooplankton samples along the Galician coast (NW Spain) were used to determine relationships between dorsal mantle length (DML), statolith length (SL) and the number of increments (NI)) deposited in the statolith. The paralarvae of L. vulgaris were between 1 and 35 days old, while both Alloteuthis species ranged in age from 1 to 54 days. Generalised additive models (GAMs) revealed non-linear growth in DML, with L. vulgaris exhibiting higher DML-at-age than Alloteuthis species. The best parametric model fit for these data was obtained using exponential regressions. The SL–NI relationship also differed between species, with L. vulgaris having larger statolith length at age. The paralarvae of L. vulgaris and A. media had two well-differentiated hatching peaks, one in late spring-early summer (beginning of the upwelling season) and another peak in late autumn (end of the upwelling season). Alloteuthis subulata had an earlier hatching peak in spring than in the other two loliginid species—and the second peak in autumn was barely visible, possibly because this species occurs further north in areas not sampled in autumn.