From Louise Allcock (13/8/08): Cephalopods on the IUCN Red List

Dear Colleagues,

Some time ago, I was approached by the Zoological Society of London to ask whether I would be prepared to head up the assessment of all cephalopod species to see which should be included on the IUCN world red list. I posted that email to fastmoll, so this is probably not news to most of you. I think the process will be beneficial to the cephalopod community as a whole because there are very few invertebrate groups being assessed and it will raise the profile of cephalopods generally. See, for example, the recent paper on corals that resulted from the red list process of this group (Carpenter et al., 2008. One-third of reef-building corals face elevated extinction risk from climate change and local impacts SCIENCE 321 (5888): 560-563).

I am now starting the red listing process for cephalopods. Every species needs to be assessed prior to the cephalopod red list assessment workshop, which will be held at CIAC 2009 in Vigo. I would like to invite any/all of you to participate in the assessment process, which involves compiling data (using a specific template) on distribution, major threats and existing conservation measures etc for every species. If there is a particular taxonomic group that you would like to tackle or, if you would like to take responsibility for a particular region's fauna, or even if there are just one or two species that you feel you are particularly knowledgeable about, then please get in touch with me (l.allcock@qub.ac.uk) as soon as possible.

Best wishes,
Louise

Dr Louise Allcock. Co-Editor, Journal of Natural History. Martin Ryan Marine Science Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.

From Xose Javier and Jan Strugnell (28/7/08): Cephalopod research presented at the SCAR/IASC conference in St. Petersburg

As young scientists of CIAC, we find essential to keep the Cephalopod scientific community informed of the cephalopod work we have been doing. We were at one of the most important conferences of the International polar Year, the SCAR/IASC conference in St. Petersburg where scientists from all research areas from the Arctic and Antarctic got together. More than 1400 scientists attended. Below is the work we presented.

Jan Strugnell gave a talk with the title of "Evidence for population genetic structure in benthic Antarctic octopuses from microsatellites and cryptic speciation from DNA". She was awarded one of the “best 10 talks given by young scientists” of the conference. Jan gave some initial results from some population genetic work looking at 3 species of Antarctic benthic octopus (Pareledone turqueti, P. charcoti and Adelieledone polymorpha). Large numbers of individuals of these species have been collected from Antarctic waters over the last 10 years. She sequenced a selection of mitochondrial genes and also developed microsatellite libraries for each of these species. The initial results from the mitochondrial data suggest that the individuals of Pareledone turqueti and Adeleiledone polymorpha collected from South Georgia and Shag Rocks may in fact be a different species to those found closer to the Antarctic continent. The microsatellite data shows significant population structure in Pareledone turqueti around Antarctica and suggests barriers to dispersal.

José Xavier gave a talk on “Inter-annual variations in cephalopod consumption by albatrosses at South Georgia: Implications for future commercial exploitation of cephalopods” based on his work with Paul Rodhouse and colleagues at the British Antarctic Survey. In this study, inter-annual variation in consumption of cephalopods by grey-headed and black-browed albatrosses, while breeding at South Georgia between 1996 and 2000, was assessed by comparing consumption estimates from a reparameterized version of the South Georgia Seabird Impact Assessment (SGSIA) model. The reparameterized model showed that there are considerable inter-annual variations in cephalopod consumption in both albatross species which are linked to oceanographic conditions, including with the El Niño, and to changes in cephalopod availability to predators. The cephalopod species with the most commercial potential (Martialia hyadesi, Kondakovia longimana, Moroteuthis knipovitchi and Gonatus antarcticus) also showed considerable differences in their consumption by predators. Due to the importance of these squid species in the diet of albatrosses, precautionary measures for future commercial exploitation are suggested, following Rodhouse (1997). These results were published in Xavier et al (2007) Marine and Freshwater Research 58: 1136-1143.

During our stay in St. Petersburg, José Xavier received the collected articles of the XVI Conference on Study of Molluscs (morphology, phylogeny, biogeography and ecology) (2007), in Russian, from Chingis Nigmatullin though his friend Boris Sirenko. If interested to learn more, just let Jose know.

Very best wishes and looking forward to CIAC 2009

Jose Xavier and Jan Strugnell

From Xose Javier (27/1/07):

Cephalopod Beaks - Training Course and Workshop organised by Dr. Malcolm Clarke at DOP, University of the Azores, Horta, Faial, Azores

Training Course (31 March – 8 April 2007, 7 days). How many participants? 10 people (chosen according to stage of career, topic being pursued, predator of interest, locality of interest). How much? 500 euros (includes accommodation, meals and course fees). Excludes flights. Aims of course? 1) Basic “hands on” grounding in the identification of lower beaks of cephalopods from predators including cetaceans, seals, fish and seabirds. 2) Grounding in the data which can be extracted from beaks, its limitations and its uses in cephalopod studies and in dietary studies of predators, mainly cetaceans, seals, fish and seabirds. 3) Lower beak collections (produced by M. Clarke; at least 30 species), original pamphlets, key publications and lists

International workshop on beaks (8–12 April 2007, 5 days). How many participants? Up to 30 participants. How much? 400 euros (includes accommodation, meals and course fees). Excludes flights. Who? Directed to established researchers, young investigators working on diets. Specialists on predators or cephalopods Aims of workshop? 1) Provide aid in the identification of lower beaks brought with the participants (to build new collections). Collections both from stomachs and from specimens. 2) Provide a means to compare identifications across the predators and the World. 3) Provide a discussion forum between participants. Discussion leaders could be selected for each topic. 4) Provide series of lectures on relevant topics, including Dr. José Xavier (beaks and erosion biases) and Dr. Yves Cherel (on new techniques on beaks)

APPLICATION FORMS BY EMAIL azores.workshop@gmail.com

From Marek Lipinski (3/8/06):

Martina Adriana Compagno Roeleveld has died in Cape Town 30 June 2006. Excellent cephalopod systematist, uncompromising, difficult but brilliant and reliable friend, will always be remembered and sadly missed. Farewell, Sparky, we certainly will meet (and quarrel again) in the better world.

[I have added two photos of Martina, from 1997 and 2004 to the page; see below]