A total of 8,744 and 2,265 cephalopods were caught in 156 trawling stations during  Maurit-0811' and ‘Maurit-0911' research cruises, carried... » More

A total of 8,744 and 2,265 cephalopods were caught in 156 trawling stations during  Maurit-0811' and ‘Maurit-0911' research cruises, carried out on board R/V Vizconde de Eza during November-December 2008 and 2009. In both cases, the studied area comprises deep shelf and continental margin of Mauritanian, from Cap Blanc to Senegal River, between 80 to 2000 meters depth. Ommastrephidae species (Illex coindetti, Todarodes sagittatus and Todaropsis eblanae) were the most abundant, but they decreased significantly in number between the two years (from 80.1% in 2008 to 52.1% in 2009). In 2009, Loliginidae and Sepiidae species increased their importance in number, from 3.5% and 2.3% to 21.5% and 14.8%, respectively. The mesopelagic species of Enoploteuthidae, which were the second most abundant group in 2008 (8.0%), represented the fourth group in number in 2009, with the 3.1%. Benthic octopods, mainly composed by Bathypolypus and Benthoctopus species, represented the 2.6% and 3.0% of total number during 2008 and 2009 Survey's, respectively. The check-list of collected species and its geographical and bathymetric distribution in Mauritanian deep waters are showed.

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