"So honey, what looks good?"

"So, just what is on the menu for our friendly octopoteuthids," I hear you ask. Well, generally it consists of prey items ranging from mesopelagic fish, to crustaceans, to fellow squid! Octopoteuthids are squid after all, and they tend not to be prone towards the veggies.

Stomach content analysis on Taningia danae specimens has repeatedly identified the remains of blue whiting, Micromesistius poutassou, while also finding crustacean exoskeleton fragments and hooks and beaks of Gonatus species (González et al., 2003). The diet of Octopoteuthis species remains a mystery though is also likely composed of a mixture of fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods.








What is better understood is who the octopoteuthids feed. Beaks attributed to the family have been found in the stomachs of many large marine mammals, including sperm whales, Cuvier's beaked whales, bottlenose whales, Risso's dolphins, and northern elephant seals. They are also taken by active pelagic fish species, such as blue sharks and swordfish, and oceanic birds such as albatross. That these birds are able to catch such deep dwelling squid is striking, though they may catch them at night when the squid migrate vertically towards the surface.
Images:
Blue whiting Shrimp Gonatus sp. Sperm whale Albatross Blue shark