Presence of the Wondrous Jewel Squid Histioteuthis miranda (Cephalopoda: Histioteuthidae) in the Eastern Arabian Sea and Determination of its Age from Statoliths

Experimental trawl survey cruises covering twelve stations around Lakshadweep archipelago, in southeastern Arabian Sea, caught eleven individuals of the uncommon squid, Histioteuthis miranda. This is the first record from waters around India. These specimens were caught in midwater trawl net operated from research vessel “FV Silver Pompano” at a depth of 200 m during night. Detailed morphometric and meristic measurements and molecular taxonomic studies confirmed the species identity. Assuming daily deposition of statolith rings, analysis of increments revealed that the species had slow growth reaching 24 mm dorsal mantle length (DML) at the age of 83 days with an average daily growth rate of 0.28 mm DML/day. A juvenile specimen with 13 mm DML had 68 increments with growth rate of 0.19 mm DML/day. Aberrant microstructure (additional nucleus and rings) were found in the statolith of a 24 mm DML specimen.