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Abralia redfieldi Voss 1955

Kotaro Tsuchiya and Richard E. Young
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Containing group: Abralia

Introduction

A. redfieldi is widely distributed in the Atlantic Ocean. This species is very similar to the Pacific species A. similis, but separable by the larger numbers of arm hooks (13-16 vs. 6-12 in A. similis).

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Figure. Abralia redfieldi, mature female, 29 mm ML, ventral view. © 1955 Bulletin of Marine Science.

Characteristics

  1. Tentacle clubs
    1. Two or three hooks on ventral side.
    2. Two rows of large suckers on dorsal side of manus.
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      Figure. Oral view of the tentacular club of A. redfieldi, holotype. Drawing from Voss (1955, p. 100, Fig. 4E).


  2. Hectocotylus
    1. Right ventral arm of male hectocotylized.
    2. Hectocotylus with very large bilobed flap, distal to arm hooks, on ventral margin and small, more distal flap on dorsal margin.
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    Figure. Medial view of the hectocotylized right arm IV of A. redfieldi. Drawing from Cairns  (1976, p. 243, Fig. 3B).

  3. Eye Photophores
    1. Five, silvery organs.
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    Figure. Ventral view of an eyeball of A. redfieldi showing the ocular photophores. Drawing from Voss (1955, p. 100, Fig. 4H)

  4. Integumental Photophores
    1. Ventral mantle and head with scattered arrangement of integumental organs.
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      Figure. A. redfieldi, ? mm ML, ventral view of head photophores. Photographed by M. Vecchione.

  5. Epidermis
    1. Thick, fragile, and gelatinous.

Comments

A. redfieldi is related with A. similis, and A. omiae in their:
  1. Five monotypic, silvery eye photophores.
  2. Large, bilobed proximal flap of hectocotylus.
  3. Small size and thick, gelatinous epidermis.

A. grimpei also resembles the above species but has more than 5 eye photophores.

  A. redfieldi
A. grimpei
A. similis
A.omiae
Lateral head photophore series
complete (ususally
Complete
Incomplete incomplete
Club hooks
2-3
2
2
1-2
Arm II photophores
1
    1
Hooks on hectocotylus
      6-8
Photophores on mantle
Clear strip, two bands (often)
Clear strip, two bands
Scattered
Clear strip, two bands 
Eye photophores
5, sometimes 6
>5
5
5
mid-head photophores
      i series

 

Distribution

well oo(1983)

Vertical distribution

One specimen was caught during night by midwater tow at a depth of 100-50m at 10° N, 20° W (Lu & Clarke, 1975)

Geographical distribution

Type locality: Off Gun Cay, Bahamas (western North Atlantic).

General distribution: "Tropical waters of western Atlantic, from the northern part of the Sargasso Sea to north-eastern Brazil, abundant near Bahamas, Bermuda, Great and Small Antilles, but absent from the slope of America. It occurs also in western Africa near Senegal." (Nesis, 1982, translation provided by M. Lipinski). Lipinski (1983) extended the range to 45°S, 54°W (western South Atlantic, well off southern Argentina).

References

Lipinski, M. 1983. A description of a new species of enoploteuthid cephalopod, Abralia siedleckyi spec. nov., with some remarks on Abralia redfieldi G. Voss, 1955. Veliger, 25(3):255-265.

Lu, C. C. and M. R. Clarke, 1975. Vertical Distribution of cephalopods at 11° N 20° W in the North Atlantic. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 55 (2): 369-389.

Nesis, K.N. 1982. Abridged key to the cephalopod molluscs of the world’s oceans. Moscow: Light and Food Industry

Publishing House, 385 pp. (In Russian).

Tsuchiya, K. 2000. Illustrated book of the Enoploteuthidae. In: Okutani T., ed. True face of Watasenia scintillans. Tokai University Press, Tokyo, p 196–269. (in Japanese)

Voss, G.L. 1955. The Cephalopoda Obtained by the Harvard-Havana Expedition off the Coast of Cuba in 1938-39. Bulletin of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean, 5(2):81-115.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Abralia redfieldi
Location Northwestern Atlantic
Comments Eyes damaged during capture.
Specimen Condition Fresh
Identified By M. Vecchione
Size 34 mm ML
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
About This Page
Drawings from Voss (1955) and Cairns (1976) printed with the Permission of the Bulletin of Marine Science.


Tokyo University of Fisheries, Tokyo, Japan


University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA

Page: Tree of Life Abralia redfieldi Voss 1955. Authored by Kotaro Tsuchiya and Richard E. Young. 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:

Tsuchiya, Kotaro and Richard E. Young. 2018. Abralia redfieldi Voss 1955. Version 29 March 2018 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Abralia_redfieldi/19661/2018.03.29 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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