Emily May recently sent us a query regarding some unusual mating behaviour by southern bobtail squid, Euprymna tasmanica, that she had observed during a night dive at Rye Pier, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. Southern bobtail squid, Euprymna tasmanica, are also known as the southern dumpling squid.
Emily told us, “three individuals were involved in mating. It appears the two males were attached to the female – we have some video footage and photography of the display. (This) occurred on Friday 11th October, around 9pm. We cannot find any research or information on this and wondered if you knew anything more on it or anyone we could speak to?”
A still taken from my presentation of Emily May’s video footage
(Courtesy of Emily May)
We told Emily that we hadn’t heard of 2 males attaching to one female in this species at all. Mind you, “such occurrences would be expected to happen occasionally, given what we already know about the complexity of cephalopod mating generally, and all the sneaky tricks the males employ.”
We asked Emily if we could see some stills and video footage of the event, and she duly obliged by giving us access to the video at https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/tohoomejeg0mu8lat6c8j/GX013372.MP4?rlkey=uboiiubwqsedhhoyk6q3hgueu&st=qisoxh8x&dl=0 .
Having seen the video, we told Emily, “No question about what the 3 Southern bobtail squid are doing. Two males have embraced the female. And not just fleetingly. We encouraged Emily to share her sighting via iNaturalist.
Emily agreed to look into iNaturalist, and she wanted to share her video footage through her own (YouTube?) channel.
I managed to produce my own video presentation from Emily’s footage and lift some stills from my presentation. My presentation (video footage courtesy of Emily May) can be viewed via OneDrive at https://1drv.ms/v/s!AptZwqUs2pz0gqdZmbgZUTN7J0v2YQ .
Here are the few stills that I lifted from my video presentation: –
At the end of the presentation, it states “We still have much to learn about the complexity of cephalopod mating”.
Emily May is still seeking answers to her query regarding this unusual mating behaviour by southern bobtail squid. We hope to be able to update this article with any information received from Emily.
Our thanks go to Emily May for sending the enquiry and her video footage through to us.