Validation of daily growth increments of statoliths of Brazilian squid Doryteuthis plei and D. sanpaulensis (Cephalopoda: Loliginidae)

Cordella de Aguiar, DanielaLucia Del Bianco Rossi-Wongtschow, CarmenAngel Alvarez Perez, José

This paper describes the first successful validation study of daily growth increments in the statoliths of the squids Doryteuthis sanpaulensis and D. plei, captured off the Southeastern coast of Brazil. Twenty-nine squid were kept in a laboratory and fed with fish injected with chlortetracycline. The chlortetracycline fluorescent markers were observed in polished statoliths previously exposed to UV light. The number of growth increments between the chlortetracycline marker and the edge of the statoliths corresponds to the number of days elapsed. The capture, transportation and laboratory procedures are described below.Key words: Statoliths. Growth increment validation. Doryteuthis sanpaulensis. Doryteuthis plei.