Cephalopod paralarvae and upwelling conditions off Galician waters (NW Spain)

A total of 103 cephalopod paralarvae were sampled during June 1995 in Galic ian waters (NW Spain). Samples were taken with Bongo nets of 300 and 500 mu m mesh size at 48 sampling stations along 10 transverse transects ranging from 80 to 600 m water depth. Paralarvae of loliginid squid were most abund ant (40%). The Rhynchoteuthion paralarvae of ommastrephid squid accounted f or 25%, whereas sepiolids comprised 23% of the total sample. Octopods were scarce, at only 6.6%. Other cephalopod families accounted for 5%. Sizes of paralarvae ranged from 1.0 to 7.1 mm mantle length. Temperature and salinit y distribution showed the presence of an intense upwelling during the surve y period. The sampling data obtained before and during the presence of upwe lled water off Rias of Pontevedra and Vigo (southern zone) showed that para larval cephalopod abundance and distribution were closely related to the up welled Eastern North-Atlantic Central Water (ENACW).