Predation on cephalopods by the giant red shrimp Aristaeomorpha foliacea

The stomachs of 427 giant red shrimps,Aristaeomorpha foliacea, caught in the Strait of Sicily (Mediterranean Sea) during four seasonal surveys contained 73 cephalopods, or 8.6% of prey. Cephalopods ranked third as prey following crustaceans (49.2% of prey) and bony fish (20.5% of prey). The following cephalopod taxa were identified: Heteroteuthis dispar, Sepietta oweniana, Brachioteuthis sp., Abraliopsis morisii, Onychoteuthis banksii,Ancistroteuthis lichtensteinii, Histioteuthis bonnelli, H. reversa, Taoniinae sp., Octopodidae sp.; the dominant species was Heteroleuthis dispar (13 specimens). All remains pertained to small and very small specimens, including earlyjuveniles; rostral length of 13 beaks (=17.8% of cephalopods) measured <1 mm. Early juveniles were found in stomach contents only in summer and winter. Cephalopod size was found to be positively correlated to shrimp size. No seasonal nor predator sex-related differences were found in the quantities and frequencies of ingested cephalopods