Complete

Octopoteuthidae Berry 1912

Richard E. Young and Michael Vecchione
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This family has two genera.
taxon links [up-->]Taningia [up-->]Octopoteuthis [down<--]Lepidoteuthid families Interpreting the tree
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Containing group: Lepidoteuthid families

Introduction

Some octopoteuthids reach a large size (160 cm ML); all have a distinctive appearance and are not easily confused with any other squids. Tentacles do not grow much beyond the paralarval stage. They are lost in subadult Octopoteuthis and form only minute appendages in subadult Taningia. The mantle is broad and weakly muscled; large muscular fins apparently provide most of the force for swimming. The short arms carry two series of hooks except near the tips where they are replaced by two series of suckers. Some or all arms terminate in photophores. Arm tips of Octopoteuthis are frequently lost during capture.

Brief diagnosis:

A member of the lepidoteuthid families ...

Characteristics

  1. Arms
    1. Arms with hooks in two series, replaced by suckers in two series near arm tips.

  2. Tentacles
    1. Tentacles reduced or absent in subadults and absent in adults.

  3. Fins
    1. Fins large, broad, muscular; fused to one another along dorsal mantle midline.
    2. Fin length nearly equals mantle length.

Nomenclature

A list of all nominal genera and species in the Octopoteuthidae can be found here. The list includes the current status and type species of all genera, and the current status, type repository and type locality of all species and all pertinent references.

Life History

Mature males lack a hectocotylus but have a large penis that, apparently, can extend well beyond the mantle opening.

References

Roper, C. F. E. and M. Vecchione. 1993. A geographic and taxonomic review of Taningia danae Joubin, 1931 (Cephalopoda: Octopoteuthidae), with new records and observations on bioluminescence. P. 441-456. In:: T. Okutani, R. K. O'Dor and T. Kubodera (eds.). The Recent Advances in Cephalopod Fishery Biology. Tokai University Press. Tokyo.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Octopoteuthis deletron
Location off Hawaii
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Life Cycle Stage subadult
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Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 1996
Scientific Name Taningia danae
Location off Hawaii
Life Cycle Stage subadult
View oral
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 1996
About This Page


University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA


National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D. C. , USA

Page: Tree of Life Octopoteuthidae Berry 1912. Authored by Richard E. Young and Michael Vecchione. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Young, Richard E. and Michael Vecchione. 1996. Octopoteuthidae Berry 1912. Version 01 January 1996. http://tolweb.org/Octopoteuthidae/19834/1996.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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