Squid were obtained from artisanal commercial fishermen in Santa Rosalia, Baja California Sur, Mexico, where they were captured at night by jigging with hand lines and weighted, luminescent jigs. Squid were taken from the commercial loading dock to a laboratory facility within 6 hours of being captured and sampled in the laboratory. Length was measured with a flexible tape, generally to the nearest 0.1 cm. Mass was weighed with a digital hanging scale to the nearest 0.01 kg. Sex and maturity were visually determined following criteria for Stages 1-5 (Lipinski & Underhill, 1995): Stage I–II = immature, Stage III = maturing, Stage IV–V = mature. (See also Hoving et al. 2013.)
References:
Lipinski MR, Underhill LG. 1995. Sexual maturation in squid: quantum or continuum. South African Journal of Marine Science, 15, 207–223. doi:10.2989/02577619509504844
Hoving H.-J, Gilly WF, Markaida U, Benoit-Bird KJ, West-Brown Z, Daniel P, Field JC, Parassenti L, Liu B, Campos B. 2013. Extreme plasticity in life-history strategy allows a migratory predator (Dosidicus gigas) to cope with a changing climate. Global Change Biology 19:2089 –2103. doi:10.1111/gcb.12198